Following a successful Partnership in 2022, the LTA has renewed its Production Partnership with Whisper and Little Dot Sport for 2023, as LTA remains focused on opening up tennis to new audiences in the UK.
Whisper and Little Dot Sport will once again combine their skills to produce and distribute a variety of high-impact content across the LTA’s digital platforms, continuing to build on the groundwork laid in 2022. Having already achieved 50% growth in social interactions, 30% growth in social followers and an increase of 11% in video views, their combined focus will be on creating further content that will help drive tennis participation and generate a shift in perception of the sport to encourage greater fan affinity.
Content delivered in 2022 included targeted series for different platforms, audiences and partners; such as the analytical insight show ‘Inspired By’ for LTA’s Advantage members. This sat alongside entertainment features aimed at wider audiences, such as comedian Joel Dommett taking on Andy Murray, while stars such as Jill Scott, Ellen White and Sam Quek helped to showcase Padel, the fastest growing sport in Britain. Whisper and The LTA also produced a series with double-amputee racing driver Billy Monger, exploring the world of wheelchair tennis – from the grand slam Champions to those hitting the courts for their very first taste of the game.
In 2023, Whisper will create a number of different content strands with the LTA to help drive further growth and to attract new audiences. This will include engaging content to promote grassroots highlighting parks and participation, episodic series following the next generation of British tennis stars, entertainment-based challenges and new content to further promote Padel.
Little Dot Sport, award-winning digital content agency and media network Little Dot Studios’ sport
specialist label, will be responsible for supporting the LTA’s channel management and content distribution, including tournament coverage around the British grass-court season and boosting engagement with leading athletes on the LTA’s channels, such as Emma Raducanu, Alfie Hewitt and Cameron Norrie.
The LTA has recently released participation figures for 2022 showing sustained success in getting more people playing tennis, more often; with growth across all demographics, regions and nations of Great Britain, particularly amongst 16-34 year-olds and those from lower socio economic backgrounds. This surge in participation has been complemented by its significant digital growth in recent years and hopes this continued partnership with Little Dot Sport and Whisper will supercharge this and drive even more people to play the sport.
Richard Daish, Director of Marketing & Commercial, LTA, said: “We’re looking forward to renewing our partnership with Whisper and Little Dot, continuing delivery of first class content, against our annual calendar, opening up the visibility of our sport, and driving more people to engage with tennis and Padel both as fans and players.”
Robbie Spargo, Director of Little Dot Sport, said: “Partnering with The LTA and Whisper has been a truly collaborative process and has set the foundation for how we will work and continue to collectively build awareness and a loyal following for The LTA. With the strong content that Whisper produces and our tailored management and distribution strategy, we firmly believe that we will continue to diversify and grow The LTA’s follower base, in line with their vision of opening up tennis for all.
Bethan Evans, Director of Production, Whisper commented: “It’s great to be partnering with Little Dot Studios again, to deliver for the LTA by bringing together our dual skillsets. Along with Little Dot Sport, we will be drawing on our strengths in producing episodic online content for the LTA and using our storytelling skills to generate engaging content, driven by our belief that Entertainment Is Everything.”
Little Dot Studios is an All3Media company. This article was originally written for Little Black Book, and the original article can be seen here.