ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO Booths Increased access to players, fan connection, showcasing the spectacle' are major goals By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Wednesday, June 25, 2025 - 12:52 pm
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When ESPN's coverage of Wimbledon from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) begins on June 30, it will be enhanced by Girraphic virtual graphics in the studio during the second week, a new broadcast booth in the Bunker on Centre Court, a new Studio 18 VO room overlooking the outer courts, a new bistro desk on the rooftop, and more player access than ever. Oh, and the interior hallways of the Wimbledon Broadcast Center have been refreshed to showcase the event's history more prominently with, for example, player interviews during practice.
The use of AR elements tops this list of enhancements. AR for tennis is still relatively new for ESPN, which worked with Girraphic on the 2025 Australian Open and 2024 U.S. Open.
According to ESPN Coordinating Producer, Tennis, Brett Jackson, Girraphic is distinguished by its use of color, depth, and the motion derived from different cameras as they fly in and out of virtual elements. Most of the time, you see a virtual graphic and it's a little static and looks like it's floating, he explains. But Girraphic provides that next-level design where you can get into the elements and around elements and, if you go into the camera side, you can actually see the depth of an element.
The plan, he adds, is for those elements to become part of the studio coverage during Week 2 via the jib camera, a Spidercam, and some PTZ cameras. This weekend, we'll work with Girraphic to make sure we're placing the graphics in the proper places, but we're excited to partner with them again as we look to enhance our coverage.
At both the Australian Open and the U.S. Open, the virtual elements were used within the playing environment, but the plan for Wimbledon is to stick to just the studio environment, Jackson says. Wimbledon is an unbelievably beautiful place without us doing anything to it.
The new ESPN Bunker studio at Centre Court has been given a facelift, making it more comfortable for talent and improving the look for viewers at home.
As for the refreshed broadcast booths, both the Bunker and Studio 18 VO room will have a fresher, more modern look and feel for talent as well as for viewers back home. Both booths are in unique and regal locations, and this fresh, clean look is modern and beautiful, adds Jackson. We're very happy with them.
ESPN VP, Production, Linda Schulz, who will be working her first tennis event after nearly 30 years with ESPN, says the new booth environments will make it easier to keep viewers connected to the announcers. At Studio 18, for example, talent can be shot in front of windows overlooking Court 18 and the grounds. The two booths are complemented by a new bistro desk on the rooftop, overlooking Court 18, Court One, and even Henman Hill.
We will look to do different segments up there and showing the great footprint that has been provided to us by AELTC, she says. We want to show the grounds as much as possible. One of the things I wished for when watching coverage previously was to see more of the spectacle. So we'll continue to engage these different studio areas and locations as well as have reporters in and around the grounds.
A rendering of the new Studio 18 VO booth, which has a fresh look and will allow viewers to see the grounds as well as the announcers
Storytelling will be the focus for the next two weeks, Schulz adds, noting that she has been impressed with the level of access AELTC has given ESPN to push boundaries and dive deeper into the event. [Compared with other sports I've done,] it's unusual to have this much opportunity to speak with and see the players in various parts of their experience.
Storytelling is something I'm passionate about, she continues. Across the variety of sports I've worked on, it is a requirement to find the tools that will make those who can't be here feel as if they are here. We have 27 cameras that are ours alone, and that is compounded with the host cameras - and, with [AELTC Head of Broadcast and Production] Paul Davies looking forward to our pushing access, that was music to my ears.
Helping make those access efforts even easier will be a new behind-the-scenes content feed from AELTC that ESPN will feature on ESPN+. It's a mixture of interviews with players from the practice facility as well as other types of coverage, and it will also be voiced, Jackson says. That's one of the new initiatives that we're going to push and promote throughout our own coverage.
In addition, he continues, AELTC provides high-end broadcast and edited elements that we will leverage, including features like the one this year focusing on the anniversary of Arthur Ashe's first Wimbledon championship. That kind of high-level edit and storytelling that they provide is something our production can enhance.
Adds Schulz, That feature was an early example of how we're partnering with AELTC. They took the lead on creating it, but they immediately came to us not only to let us know that they were working on it but to see what we could provide. So we provided content that they didn't have access to. It's really a hand-in-hand situation.
The major tennis championships that ESPN covers - the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open - are always pushing and pulling each other to innovate and bring coverage to new levels. For rightsholders like ESPN, they also each provide a unique opportunity to build relationships that can produce new and enhanced coverage.
We are always constantly p
