NEW YORK (AP) — The Wimbledon tennis championships will be televised by ESPN, ending NBC’s 43-year run broadcasting the Grand Slam tournament.
ESPN and the All England Club reached a 12-year agreement beginning next year that gives the cable network the U.S. television rights to all matches at Wimbledon. The announcement was made Tuesday.
ESPN had owned the rights to extensively televise early rounds of Wimbledon, with NBC picking up coverage as the tournament progressed, culminating with the “Breakfast at Wimbledon” broadcasts of the finals.
It’s the latest major sporting event to move from the traditional four over-the-air networks to cable. College football’s Bowl Championship Series title games are on ESPN, and NCAA basketball’s Final Four will be on TBS in alternating years starting in 2016.
