A youthful new era is rapidly emerging at the 147-year-old Wimbledon, one destined to shake up one of the most tradition-bound events in not only tennis, but all of sports. 

The major begins Monday in London, but many of its former champions and established stars are either absent or participating in a limited capacity. Two-time Wimbledon winner and 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal is skipping the tournament to prepare for the Paris Olympics. Novak Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion and last year’s runner-up, is still formally in the draw, but how effective he’ll be is still an open question after recent surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee. A similar situation surrounds Andy Murray, another two-time Wimbledon winner but dealing with a back injury, and he’s waiting until Monday to decide whether to compete in singles. 

Spotlighting this year’s field instead is a rising wave of young stars including 2023 Wimbledon men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz (21 years old), top men’s seed Jannik Sinner (22), and top women’s players Iga Świątek (23), Coco Gauff (20), and Qinwen Zheng (21). 

New Money and Maybe New Facilities

This year’s Wimbledon also has a new monetary look as the All England Club raised the prize money fund by 11.9% to a record $64 million. Last year’s 8% bump in Wimbledon prize money helped prompt similar increases at the other three tennis majors, and is fueled in part by still-rising fan demand for tournament tickets. 

“Interest in attending Wimbledon has never been greater, with unprecedented demand for tickets through our public ballot and corporate hospitality,” said Deborah Jevans, All England Club chair.

The All England Club, meanwhile, is still attempting to pursue a dramatic, $250 million enlargement of its facility. Local officials have shown concern about the effort—several years in the making—to build a new, 8,000-seat stadium and 39 additional courts, but the matter is now in front of the office of London mayor Sadiq Khan in what remains a divisive local issue politically.

“I’m all for expanding. It’s bumper-to-bumper crowded when you walk into Wimbledon,” said Chris Evert, Tennis Hall of Famer and an ESPN broadcaster. “I definitely think that all the Grand Slams are going to continue [to pursue expansion]. It’s not going to stop now. I mean, whatever will suit the spectators, because they’re really the most important people in this whole thing, what makes it easier, more comfortable, more doable for them to roam around.”

Bristol Focus

ESPN’s “First Ball to Last Ball” coverage of the tournament will span more than 240 hours across the network and several other Disney-owned platforms.

The network’s coverage includes the addition of recently retired star player John Isner and the currently inactive Nick Kyrgios as guest commentators, something also advancing the theme of changing on-court talent at Wimbledon. Kyrgios, a finalist at this tournament two years ago, will also appear in the BBC’s event coverage.

With the NWSL on pace for another record year midway through this season, a potential rival pro women’s soccer league—at least some see it that way—is just six weeks away from launching.

In February, the USL Super League received the same Division I sanctioning from the U.S. Soccer Federation that the NWSL has. Last month, the upstart competition completed its next major step: a national media-rights deal with Peacock. While the pact doesn’t compare to the reach or financial impact of the NWSL’s $240 million deals, it does give the new women’s league a streaming platform with more than 30 million subscribers and the muscle of a major media company in NBCUniversal.

The rights deal is not a traditional one, though, and comes with an intriguing caveat. Front Office Sports spoke with key officials involved in its creation to break down the expanding pro women’s soccer landscape.

How Much Is It Worth?

Creating revenue will be key for the USL Super League, which is launching with eight clubs and lists eight more potential expansion markets on its website. 

While specific financial details of the Peacock deal weren’t revealed, an NBCU executive admitted it’s not a standard contract. “If you’re in the USL’s shoes, with a startup league, it’s not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to get a major media company excited about a traditional rights arrangement,” says Will McIntosh, the president of NBC Sports Next, which is a technology division of the media giant that led talks with the USL.

That’s why the two parties got creative. In addition to USL Super League streaming on Peacock—or perhaps in exchange for—there’s another element to the deal. Broadcasts from pre-professional competitions USL League Two and USL W League will appear on SportsEngine Play, an NBC-owned streaming service that until now has aired only youth sports. 

“There was this opportunity for the USL to be a big anchor partner for SportsEngine Play, as we’re building it,” McIntosh explains. “At the same time, they had a need for a major media partner and streaming platform like Peacock for their professional endeavors.”

So, is Peacock paying for the USL rights? Yes and no. “The USL will end up benefiting tremendously economically from this,” says McIntosh. “It won’t necessarily look like a typical rights arrangement because the value is coming from a variety of places.” 

There were multiple parties interested in acquiring the USL Super League rights, according to Court Jeske, the USL’s chief commercial officer. The top two USL men’s leagues have broadcast deals with ESPN and CBS. In addition to the Peacock distribution, Jeske says that Super League clubs “will have the ability to have select matches highlighted with local linear partners.”

The NWSL Question

“​​We don’t really look at it compared to NWSL,” Jeske says of the USL’s long-term strategy for its new women’s league. But the comparisons are unavoidable. 

When the USL Super League launches in mid-August, it will run alongside the NWSL for about two and a half months before the latter’s championship game in early November. Operating on the traditional fall-to-spring international soccer calendar, the upstart league will have its own spot over the winter, before the NWSL restarts in March. 

“It’s undoubtable that they’re gonna be viewed as competitors over time,” McIntosh says. But both he and Jeske are bullish on the belief that there’s enough talent in the U.S. to support two women’s leagues, and until now not enough playing opportunities. Soon, we’ll see if that hypothesis is true.