After 43 Years, Wimbledon Leaving NBC
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 7:52PM Yippie! Wimbledon is leaving its home of 43 years and the place where "Breakfast at Wimbledon" originated.
NBC said in a statement Sunday that "while we would have liked to have continued our relationship, we were simply outbid."
A person with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed that ESPN was working on a contract with the All England Club to televise all of the Grand Slam tournament. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was not ready to be announced.
The way NBC covered it this year, it looked like they stopped covering it after 2010. With big matches not being on live, or not on at all, it was time for NBC to pack its bags and head out of town. Ted Robinson appeared to be the only broadcaster on the NBC team that had actually done his homework before the fortnight.
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 would be 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.
