“Ralph Lauren will become the first external company in 129 years to outfit the British tennis event’s 570 umpires, ball girls and ball boys.”

Not only that, but Ralph Lauren have also enlarged their polo pony logo, considerably, presumably to make it easier recognise at a distance. What seemed before as an inconspicuous mark on expensive clothing, now appears as a super conspicuous sign with all the regular signifieds and connotations, just taken that one step further.

Wimbledon, despite many other world tennis grand slam events, enjoys a good deal of freedom from major corporate sponsors plastering their graphics all over the venues (not to mention kitting out all the umpires, ball girls and ball boys in high-end designer clobber). The deal worth £10,000,000 to Wimbledon must have proved too much money to refuse. It does indeed appear that everyone has their price, despite 129 years of tradition. If you are going to break over 100 years of tradition, do it in style - arguably.

Sources:
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.
MSNBC

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