ESPN Posts 18% Ratings Gain and Second-Highest Wimbledon Audience Since 2019

Overview

• ESPN disclosed on July 15 that its two-week Wimbledon coverage across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 averaged 853,000 viewers, up 18% from 2025 and the network's second-largest tournament audience since 2019.
• The women's final between Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova averaged 1.9 million viewers, a roughly 48% jump from last year and the highest women’s final audience in ESPN’s Wimbledon history.
• The men's final featuring Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev averaged 2.4 million viewers, which was down about 16–17% versus 2025 but about 10% higher than 2024.
• Early-round and feature matches produced big single-day spikes, including Serena Williams’ June 30 return that averaged 1.8 million viewers (2.1 million peak) and a 5-hour Djokovic–Auger‑Aliassime quarterfinal that averaged 1.1 million.
• Fans publicly objected to ESPN's new streaming setup that promotes an ESPN Unlimited tier and limits match selection on ESPN Plus, and the ratings outcome will shape advertiser and rights-holder expectations ahead of the US Open.