In ESPN VP/Production Linda Schulz‘s first year as lead producer of the network’s tennis coverage, she is promising an approach to Wimbledon that “is not changed significantly from previous years.” But ESPN will be layering fresh elements in its 23rd year as a U.S. rightsholder of the Championships (14th exclusive).
For one, ESPN worked with the All England Lawn Tennis Club and U.K.-based design firm Shedworks Studio to redesign multiple spaces on the grounds, including ESPN’s Centre Court Bunker booth, studio overlooking Court 18, Bistro Desk that sits in the “player garden” overlooking Court 18 and Henman Hill, and hallways within the broadcast compound.
“We go on camera a lot in these locations, and what this does is brings up our booths to what the imagery around the grounds is,” said ESPN Coordinating Producer/Tennis & College Hockey Brett Jackson, who is in his 15th year working tennis events. “This is a unique and regal location, and now our booths are actually representative of that with a fresh and clean look that is modern and beautiful in itself.”
ESPN is also in its second year -- and first Wimbledon -- working with graphics design firm Girraphic, which will provide new “virtual” graphics for ESPN’s studio segments during the second week of the main draw. This relationship began for the 2024 U.S. Open, when, as one example of the virtual graphics’ capabilities, ESPN flew a spidercam through a virtual “O” in “U.S. Open.” Girraphic graphics have since figured into ESPN’s hockey and Masters coverage as well.
“These virtual graphics will live in corners of the studio so people can walk up beside and you can see the depth as the [camera] goes by them,” Jackson said. “We’re going to see where [the graphics fit] within the studio. We have a variety of design templates ready to go, including stats and player profiles and other items... We’re going to plan to put them all over.”
Schulz and Jackson also stressed that ESPN will push for unique player access, like practice court interviews they’ve aired in the past, and share content with the tennis club, including through a special feature that will run during the tournament commemorating the 50th anniversary of Arthur Ashe becoming the first Black man to win the Wimbledon singles title (the production of which was led by the tennis club but assisted by ESPN).
“It’s certainly a hand-in-hand situation,” Schulz said of the ESPN-club relationship.
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