How to Watch Wimbledon 2020 Like Being on Centre Court

It’s time for the annual Wimbledon Championships. All eyes will be on the weather and the starry-eyed tennis players as they flock the perfectly turfed lawns for two weeks of grass court play. Figuring out how to watch Wimbledon, especially if you live outside of the UK or the U.S., can be tricky, though, so we’ve put together this guide.

Ideally, the best place to watch the tournament is live in the stadium at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. If you can’t go, that doesn’t mean you can’t watch. The next best spot would be a sports bar. If you’re not willing to spend your days indoors, though, some London establishments can get you a front row seat with a giant screen and a deck chair or two.

If you prefer to watch from home, you can catch every moment on the grass courts in London alongside millions of other viewers with a Wimbledon live stream. Several broadcasters signed up for Wimbledon from all corners of the world, including the BBC in the UK and ESPN or Tennis Channel in the U.S.

There are lots of paid and free streaming services you can use, as well as software such as Kodi. If you’re outside the U.S. or UK, a virtual private network will bring the live action where you are.

This year’s tournament kicks off July 1 and goes through July 14. It’ll feature defending champions Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber playing to retain their titles and other top players, such as Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. In this guide, we’re going to show you how to watch them live.

Watch Wimbledon Online

Without cable, you can watch live Wimbledon tournament action using paid streaming services or sticky bundles that grant you access to all the matches via a wireless connection. The latter are more reliable than cable services and only have the channels you want to watch.

DirecTV is an affordable bundle that offers the highest quality streams. The basic package includes ESPN and ESPN2 for $35 a month, and you can watch Wimbledon from anywhere, enjoy other channels and even watch the NBA.

Another great option for U.S. tennis fans to stream the action is Fubo TV. You need only visit their official website and choose a package with a BBC channel to watch the event live.

PlayStation Vue also offers paid plans from which you can live stream the tournament, with a package that covers ESPN and ESPN2 going for about $29.90. You can also use it on several devices, such as Roku, PlayStations 3 and 4, Chromecast, iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Amazon Fire Stick and more.

Hulu + Live TV gives you streaming access on ESPN and ESPN2, as well as the Hulu library, for $39.99 per month. Check out our best VPN for Hulu if you plan to watch the website from outside the U.S.

Sling TV is another live streaming option that doesn’t require a cable connection. It gives you access to over 60 channels, including those showing Wimbledon. For only $25 monthly, you can stream the tournament live. Sign up for its seven-day trial to test run its transmission and broadcasting quality ahead of the game.

Watch Wimbledon for Free

As much as we’d love to watch the tournament from center court, it can only hold so many people. You don’t need to miss out, though. If you want to catch all the action live from the UK, it’s free for anyone to watch via TV, BBC iPlayer or an online TV player.

The BBC holds the rights to host and is the official broadcaster in England and 40 other countries. It’ll be showing live coverage throughout the tournament from BBC1 and BBC2, but you can stream it live via BBC iPlayer or BBC’s official website. To access it from outside the UK, check out our best VPN for BBC iPlayer.

In the U.S., ESPN is the official broadcaster, so you can tune in to ESPN or ESPN2 for live coverage or turn to the Tennis Channel and ESPN3 for online streaming. That said, for ESPN3, you’ll need to download an app and log in to the service to watch online. 

If you’re a U.S. national and you’ll be outside of the country, you may not be able to access the content because of geoblocks. The best VPN for ESPN will help in that case, so you’ll still be able to cheer on your favorite players.

Wimbledon on Kodi

Whether you’re tuning in from the UK, U.S. or any other location, you can watch Wimbledon 2019 free and live online via Kodi. The free, legal and open-source media player allows you to stream content without a web browser. It can be installed on PC, macOS, Apple TV, Android and iOS devices and Amazon Fire Stick.

You can customize Kodi with many extensions for streaming. Read our Kodi guide and our piece on the best Kodi repositories for several good options. Since you’re a sports fan, check out our guide to the best Kodi add-ons for sports, too, so you can watch live events or recaps. 

Some add-ons may be great for streaming sports, but we recommend only using them with a VPN to keep your activities private and your personal information safe. Check out our best VPN for Kodi selection to find one that plays nice with Kodi.

Final Thoughts

Wimbledon 2019 promises to be a cracking tournament for tennis fans worldwide. If you’re in a location outside the UK and try to watch this classic British tennis event, you’ll discover that BBC iPlayer and other streaming services will block you because of licensing issues. 

You can read our geoblocking guide to help you bypass regional lockouts and access streaming services. The best way around them is to use a VPN, of course, generally we recommend ExpressVPN for this. 

Do you watch Wimbledon online every year or know of other ways to watch Wimbledon live? Tell us about it in the comments below. Thanks for reading.