ESPN Announces Television and Free Online Coverage of Wimbledon
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Jun 16, 2008 | Print | Email | Bookmark | Free Subscription
With the start of a new six-year agreement between ESPN and the AELTC, tennis fans in the USA can watch nearly 100 hours of the Wimbledon fortnight on ESPN2.
ESPN2 will begin day-long live programming when play begins Monday, June 23, and continue daily through Sunday, July 6, starting with the first ball in play and continuing through a recap of the Gentlemen’s final, totaling 98.5 hours.
Each weekday, ESPN2’s live coverage from London will begin at 7 a.m. ET, with:
- Extensive live coverage of matches, including all-day coverage the first week;
- One ladies’ and one gentlemen’s semifinal (July 3 and 4, respectively);
- One-hour SportsCenter at Wimbledon aired immediately following NBC’s coverage of the ladies’ (Saturday, July 5 at 2 p.m.) and gentlemen’s (Sunday, July 6 at 3 p.m.) championship.
Dick Enberg will work his 25th Wimbledon to call matches, sharing the duty with Cliff Drysdale – the two-time Wimbledon semifinalist who has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast in 1979. They will team with analysts Darren Cahill, Mary Carillo, Mary Joe Fernandez, Patrick McEnroe and Pam Shriver.
In addition, Brad Gilbert, an ESPN analyst 2004 – 2006, returns after a two-year coaching stint. Shriver will frequently be utilized as a roving reporter covering play in “outer courts” and as a sideline reporter, as will Luke Jensen who will also appear on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio and ESPN.com.
Chris Fowler, who has served as ESPN’s studio host for Grand Slam tennis events since 2003, will host and call select matches. In addition, legendary tennis journalist and commentator Bud Collins, who joined ESPN in August 2007, will make his Wimbledon debut for ESPN.
ESPN360.com will offer extensive live video with five streams of coverage, totaling 250 hours of programming during the fortnight, with action from a variety of courts plus live press conferences.
Three channels will provide live coverage from Centre Court, Court One and Court Two. Another will provide a simulcast of ESPN2’s live coverage. The fifth will present press conferences live from the Media Centre. The first three channels will be operating whenever play is in session through Monday, June 30. On July 1 and 2, Centre Court, Court One and the ESPN2 feed will be available, with the ESPN2 feed also available July 3 and 4.
The complete ESPN2 and NBC Sports 2008 Wimbledon TV schedule for the United States will be published at On the Baseline on Wednesday.
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