Wimbledon enjoys best ratings since Federer, Serena days

Wimbledon's massive momentum continued with the third Grand Slam of 2025 drawing its best television ratings since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iga Swiatek's first Wimbledon title -- the first 6-0, 6-0 "double bagel" in a women's Wimbledon final since 1911 -- averaged 1.9 million viewers. That was an 18 percent bump over the 2024 women's final between Barbora Krejcikova and Jasmine Paolini.

That was followed by the 3.2 million viewers who tuned into Jannik Sinner's first triumph at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club over Carlos Alcaraz. A rematch of last month's French Open final won by Alcaraz, the ratings for the Wimbledon men's final were up 26 percent from last year when the Spaniard faced Novak Djokovic.

In all, the Grand Slam averaged 721,000 viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, the most since 2019. That was the last time Roger Federer and Serena Williams both reached the finals of the men's and women's draws, although both lost that year -- Federer to Djokovic and Williams to Simona Halep.

It is the fourth-highest ratings since ESPN began airing coverage exclusively in 2012, and represents a 6 percent increase over last year. ESPN has broadcast rights to Wimbledon through 2035 in the United States.

The ratings news came on the heels of Sportico's report last week that Wimbledon was expected to bring in more than a half a billion dollars by its two-week conclusion.

The annual championship produced a 2024 haul of $555 million at current exchange rates, per the report. The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, operator of the event and the playing grounds, filed reports that showed a 7 percent increase from 2023 and 162 percent more than a decade ago.