Wimbledon finals to be captured in 3D

It has been confirmed that this year’s finals of the Wimbledon tennis championship will be captured and screened live in 3D and distributed to 3D-capable cinemas around the world. The production, produced by Sony in partnership with Wimbledon host broadcaster, the BBC, will also be offered to interested global broadcasters.

Sony will produce the men’s semi-finals, finals and women’s finals in 3D as the official supplier of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships, with cinema distribution looked after by SuperVision Media, Sony’s theatrical distribution partners. A statement says that “the two parties will also seek further possibilities to deliver 3D tennis to a much wider audience over time.”

Fujio Nishida, President of Sony Europe commented: “With the Live 3D Wimbledon experience available in hundreds of 3D cinemas across the world, many more people will be able to enjoy one of the world’s most iconic sporting events as though they were actually at Wimbledon.”

The operative word there is ‘hundreds’, suggesting a big global push for the coverage. Whether that will transmute into broadcast-level viewing figures is, however, uncertain, as there is no word of deals yet made to show it on a 3D platform. The BBC, meanwhile, still remains officially cautious about 3D, stating last year that it was “considering a small number of 3DTV editorial experiments in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics.”