Guaranteeing the weather at tennis tournament Wimbledon in the UK may seem an impossible feat given the usual fortunes of the spectators. The last week of June in the UK is notorious for rain (given the fact that both Wimbledon and the Glastonbury festival occur at that time). This year of course the spectators have been lucky and Wimbledon has been blessed with great weather and is looking likely to finish on time (as long as the mens final today isn’t held up by rain).
And the reason for this post? Well, Viagogo.com the online ticket agent, have been offering a weather insurance policy with all Wimbledon tickets bought this year. In a first for sporting events (as far as I’m aware) Viagogo have offered 100% refunds on the price of a day ticket to Wimbledon if there is less than two hours play due to rain (on that day).
In the last few years had this policy been available it would have meant that on average some fans would have been refunded money every year given how poor the weather has been that week.
This is another great example of using weather risk management innovatively to encourage customers to make a purchase. In a similar way to the recent Priceline deal, offers such as this can be the difference between making a sale and not by instilling a certain level of confidence in a customer.
We have no information on who has structured and provided the cover for the Wimbledon refund deal. It is likely to be one of the main players so if you have any information about how this type of deal is put together please do reply.
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