ESPN’s coverage of Wimbledon is off to a hot start.
The third Grand Slam event of the year, which began on Monday, earned record viewership for ESPN. Monday’s audience averaged 539,000 viewers, up 37% versus last year’s Day 1 audience (393,000 viewers), and notching the most-watched first day of Wimbledon in the network’s 22 years airing the tournament.
Unfortunately, ESPN might be facing an uphill battle the rest of the way. On Tuesday, two of America’s biggest tennis stars, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, were upset in the First Round. Gauff recently surpassed a nearly decade-old viewership record for the women’s singles final of the French Open last month and has consistently been one of the sport’s top draws in recent years.
Regardless, drawing over half a million viewers largely during working hours on a Monday is no easy feat. And not all is lost.
In the men’s draw, there are still household names like Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz headlining play. The women’s draw still has stars like Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. But losing two top American women this early is an unlucky break for ESPN.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.