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ESPN Made History On Day 1 Of Wimbledon Tournament

Originally posted on The Spun | By Daniel Bates | Last updated Jul 2, 2025 8:59 PM ET

ESPN's investment in tennis appears to have paid off in a big way for the Worldwide Leader.

This year's Wimbledon tournament, which started on Monday, reportedly drew a record audience for the Disney-owned company; setting an all-time viewership record for Day 1 of the Grand Slam event.

According to the network's PR team, an average of 539,000 people tuned in for the championships' first day, up 37% from last year's Day 1 crowd of 393,000 watchers. That is the best ratings number ESPN has had in its 22 years of Wimbledon coverage.

2025 #Wimbledon on ESPN set an all-time viewership record for Day 1!

Details: https://t.co/nL7BxxzM37 pic.twitter.com/SvzD1DDVMr
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) July 2, 2025

Where those numbers go from here is anyone's guess though, as this year's tournament saw early exits for some of tennis' biggest stars including Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.

Coco has been one of the sport's biggest draws since her professional debut at the age of 14 and she was as disappointed as anybody by the stunning first-round loss.

"Dayana [Yastremska] started off playing strong. I couldn't find my footing out there today," Gauff said after the match, before admitting that the quick turnaround from Roland Garros likely got to her.

"I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards. So I didn't feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it."

The men's side still has marquee names like Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz that should surely draw fans' attention— even with Wimbledon taking place during the daytime hours of the work week.

With that said Monday was still a great number for ESPN and they'll attempt to build off that momentum as the rest of the championships continue.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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