Wimbledon will remain on free-to-air television until at least 2033 after the BBC on Thursday signed a new deal with the All England Club before the Championships start next week. The BBC’s existing deal was due to expire after next summer and signing a six-year extension is a major boost for the corporation, as other than the men’s football World Cup, European Championship and Olympics, Wimbledon is the broadcaster’s biggest live sporting asset.
The All England Club has taken tentative steps towards embracing pay television in the UK in recent years and has sold secondary rights to the men’s and women’s finals to TNT Sports, but is not thought to have given serious consideration to breaking a relationship with the BBC that began in 1927 with their first radio coverage from SW19.
