The All England Club have reportedly urged the BBC to improve its ‘stale’ coverage of Wimbledon if the broadcaster is to continue showing the tournament.
The BBC, which first aired radio coverage from Wimbledon 100 years ago, will see its current deal end after the 2027 tournament.
It’s thought chiefs have already begun talks over a potential renewal, with the BBC almost certainly in-line to continue its partnership with the home of British tennis beyond next year.
However, according to The Times, there’s a ‘strong’ feeling among those at the All England Club that coverage of the sport’s oldest Grand Slam must improve.
The BBC’s programme, which was fronted by Clare Balding, Isa Guha and Qasa Alom last year, has been dubbed outdated in some quarters, the publication reports, with some of the presenters branded ‘out of touch’.
An insider industry source said: ‘John McEnroe is great – although he can split opinion – but some of the other presenters and pundits seem out of touch and not really up to date with a lot of the players.
The All England Club have reportedly urged the BBC to improve its ‘stale’ coverage of Wimbledon if the broadcaster is to continue showing the tournament
Last year’s BBC coverage was fronted by Qasa Alom, Clare Balding and Isa Guha
‘There is obviously a balance to be struck to cater for those who like the traditional aspect of the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage, but it definitely needs to look at what is happening in other tennis coverage.’
The quality of both Sky and TNT Sports’ coverage is understood to have left directors at Wimbledon concerned that the BBC’s could be outshone.
Sky, which holds rights to show the Premier League, darts and the summer of cricket, has recently launched its own tennis channel which broadcasts the ATP and WTA tournaments as well as the US Open until 2029.
Its coverage is fronted by legendary British tennis player Tim Henman and former female star Laura Robson, who was rumoured to be spearheading TNT’s broadcasts of The Ashes, though a deal never materialised.
TNT meanwhile covered the French Open back in May, won by Carlos Alcaraz, and will broadcast the Australian Open when it gets underway later this week.
Despite its coverage of The Ashes being dubbed ‘very amateur’, its tennis showing has largely impressed.
But it’s ultimately hugely unlikely that the BBC could lose its long-standing deal with Wimbledon, particularly because the men’s and women’s finals are classed as Group A Listed Events, meaning they must be shown on free-to-air television.
If the tournament moved away from the BBC, there would also be fears of viewing numbers decreasing. A whopping 8.8million people tuned in to watch Jannik Sinner lift his maiden Wimbledon trophy last summer.
Some 8.8million people tuned in to watch Jannik Sinner defeat Carlos Alcaraz in the 2025 final
A source at Wimbledon told The Times: ‘It’s not about the money or necessarily the highest bidder, it is about what is right for Wimbledon and it is almost impossible for another broadcaster to provide the viewership the BBC does.’
It’s likely that any decision on the next rights deal will wait until the BBC have appointed a successor for Tim Davie.
The former director-general resigned in early November amid a row over the doctoring of a Donald Trump speech for a Panorama episode.
The All England Club declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail Sport.
