Major US pay-TV sports broadcaster ESPN has hailed its coverage of the 2025 Wimbledon tennis Grand Slam as a major success, headlined by strong year-on-year (YoY) growth.
This was best exemplified by the men’s singles final, which averaged 2.9 million viewers, up 31% on the 2024 edition, or 3.2 million when discounting trophy lift and post-match analysis, which is up 26% YoY.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz played out the latest installment of their budding rivalry in the final, with Sinner earning a four-set victory to unseat twice-defending champion Alcaraz.
A strong US outing at the event, despite the shock early exits of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, attracted strong viewership across its latter stages, forecast by record day-one viewership in the US for the Disney-owned TV heavyweight.
Coverage was disseminated across the ESPN network, the secondary ESPN 2 channel, and national network ABC.
American Amanda Anisimova reached the women’s singles final, and although she was routed 6-0, 6-0 in 57 minutes by Pole Iga Swiatek, the match broadcast (excluding post-match content) averaged 1.9 million, up 18% on the 2024 edition.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataAnisimova’s semi-final defeat of world number one player Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, when combined with Swiatek’s semi-final triumph over Belinda Bencic, combined to become the most-watched Wimbledon women’s semi-finals since 2015, when the iconic Serena Williams was active.
In all, ESPN’s coverage of Wimbledon 2025 was up 6% on 2024, averaging 721,000 viewers across its 250 hours of content, making it the most watched edition of the tournament in the US since 2019, and the fourth most watched on record.
ESPN has broadcast Wimbledon in some form since 2003 and took over exclusive rights in 2012.
Courtesy of a 2021 renewal, reportedly valued at $95 million per year, ESPN will continue to hold the Wimbledon rights in the US through 2035.
BeIN Sports, the international pay-TV heavyweight, also drew record viewership in France for the men’s and women’s Wimbledon finals.
The men’s final averaged 568,000 viewers, peaking at 732,000, record figures for the broadcaster, which has held Wimbledon rights since 2014.
BeIN Sports holds the rights to the tournament in France through 2028, and will be encouraged by the viewership performance for its 2025 edition, with the women’s final also drawing a record average audience of 155,000.
In addition to Wimbledon, BeIN holds a myriad of tennis rights, including the Women’s Tennis Association tour, the Davis Cup, and the BJK Cup team tournaments.
