All England Lawn Tennis Club joins forces with MediaZone.com to deliver world’s biggest tennis tournament to broadband customers.

For the past several years, countless media reports have talked of the expanding internet universe and its overall effect on the daily lives of virtually everyone on the planet, including expats searching for their home country’s sports, news and an overall connection to their culture. Moving beyond simple web pages and search engines has been the goal for every entertainment provider, but how far have they really come? Well, if you happen to be a tennis fan, it’s time to drop that remote control and pick up your mouse.

MediaZone, a leading global online broadcaster, and the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club recently announced the renewal of their agreement to deliver comprehensive video coverage of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships to global audiences on www.wimbledon.org/live. Coming off a successful run with the 2006 Championships, the service has expanded to provide tennis fans with the means to watch every match from Wimbledon, from up to nine courts, either LIVE or On Demand. Are you a Roger Federer fan who has to take the kids to soccer practice during his quarterfinal match? No problem. Simply download the match and watch it later. Dying to know how Maria Sharapova is doing in the second set tie-breaker but you’re locked in your office hammering out a report for the boss? All you need is a broadband connection and you can have it delivered direct to your computer.

2007’s Wimbledon LIVE is taking the whole package to the next level with even more interactive and in-depth coverage of Wimbledon with an expanded library of archived tournament highlights, footage and interviews. MediaZone and IBM (the Official Information Technology Supplier to The Championships) have developed an entirely new way for fans to interact with the service on www.wimbledon.org/live this year that will allow fans to immerse themselves in all things Wimbledon and keep them on top of all the action without having to park themselves in front of a television set.

The entertainment industry has been scrambling to keep up with everyday people who have less and less free time, but companies like MediaZone have been at the forefront of giving the people what they want, especially those obsessed with sports and entertainment programming from their home country, all delivered straight to their computers. “Wimbledon is one of the most recognized and respected sporting events in the world and lends itself well to MediaZone’s comprehensive, interactive event coverage that allows global audiences to follow all the proceedings of this prestigious tournament with simply a PC and broadband connection, anytime and anywhere they choose,” said Jan Steenkamp, Chairman of MediaZone. “We’re happy to be working with the All England Lawn Tennis Club and IBM to give fans who can’t be at Wimbledon or in front of their TV sets, the thrill of being there and experiencing some of the best tennis anywhere.”

One day soon, we’ll be able to watch all of our favorite shows on our laptops wherever and whenever we’d like. Until then, forward-looking organizations such as All England Lawn Tennis Club and MediaZone will be laying the groundwork and allowing tennis fans to reap the early benefits of internet television.