ESPN Inks 12-Year Deal With AELTC to Renew Wimbledon Rights

ESPN will continue to be the exclusive home of The Championships, Wimbledon from first ball to last ball in the U.S. under the terms of a new 12-year agreement with the All England Lawn Tennis Club.  The annual Wimbledon fortnight is one of sports’ most prestigious events, thanks to its iconic grass courts, traditional white attire for players and its storied history of memorable matches.  The agreement begins with the 2024 Championships and extends through 2035.

“The sporting world recognizes that Wimbledon is equated with excellence, and we are thrilled and proud to continue our close relationship with the AELTC,” says Burke Magnus, ESPN President, Programming and Original Content.  “Wimbledon is a tentpole event on the global sports calendar and the ESPN schedule, and we will continue to use all our resources to present the drama, tradition and stories of Wimbledon to fans in all ways possible.”

Mick Desmond, AELTC Commercial & Media Director, comments: “We are absolutely delighted to have extended this important partnership into the next decade. ESPN has transformed the storytelling of Wimbledon throughout the Americas with their first ball to last ball commitment and their creative storytelling techniques. We are really looking forward to continuing to take the relationship from strength to strength and provide sports fans in the Americas with access to Wimbledon through ESPN’s unrivalled network of platforms.”

Highlights of the Agreement 

• ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will continue to present 140+ hours of coverage over the fortnight but will add live coverage on ABC of play on the middle weekend of the event.  (Beginning next year, there will be matches on the “middle Sunday,” traditionally a day of rest.)  This addition of ABC will begin next year, two years before the new agreement takes effect.
• ESPN+ will have live streaming of all courts throughout the fortnight and will be the only place to get full match replays for all matches.  In addition, ESPN+ will have exclusive live coverage of the qualifying rounds and access to all ancillary content produced by AELTC, such as films, classic matches, highlight shows and press conferences.

• Wimbledon coverage will be presented across all screens via ESPN/Disney platforms.
• ESPN Deportes will continue to provide coverage in Spanish in the U.S.
• ESPN’s rights around the world will include Canada via TSN and RDS, Latin America, the Caribbean and Brazil.  The addition of Brazil is new with this agreement.

ESPN first acquired rights to Wimbledon with the 2003 Championships and obtained exclusivity to the entire fortnight starting with the 2012 event.