Sue Barker rebuffed approach from Sky Sports to front tennis coverage
Tennis broadcasting stalwart Sue Barker has revealed she rebuffed an approach to work for Sky Sports as the former face of Wimbledon’s BBC coverage remains away from the cameras.
The former French Open winner left the BBC in 2022 after a 30-year broadcasting career which included fronting the Wimbledon Championships and Queen’s, as well as A Question of Sport.
She subsequently said the BBC could have handled her departure better and last year said she walked away from a contract extension fearing a diminished role.
This year’s Championships returned to the BBC on Monday while the finals will also be shown on TNT Sports after Warner Bros Discovery merged Eurosport’s UK operations into Discovery Plus.
Speaking at an event in west London recently, Barker, 69, was asked whether she’d ever present Wimbledon for a rival broadcaster such as TNT.
Barker on the Beeb?
She rebuked that notion, insisting that fronting coverage for the BBC and being the interviewing broadcaster for the finals on Centre Court was the “pinnacle”.
She added that she’d had an early approach from Sky Sports, with the broadcaster taking over from Amazon Prime as holder of a huge number of tennis rights from the WTA and ATP Tours, but rebuffed it.
It is understood that Sky Sports considered a number of tennis faces to front their Sky Sports coverage when they began year-round broadcasting of the sport again from the beginning of 2024.
City PM understands that a formal offer was not made to Barker.
Clare Balding will lead this year’s Wimbledon coverage on the BBC, aided by former England cricketer Isa Guha. Qasa Alom will host the evening highlights programme Today at Wimbledon.
John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Pat Cash, Tracy Austin, Tim Henman and Annabel Croft are among the big-name pundits set to make an appearance at the All England Club for the BBC.