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Want to guarantee you never miss a minute of Wimbledon 2025? While BBC iPlayer has comprehensive coverage of the Grand Slam, this streaming service is only available in the UK. Scroll down for our step-by-step instructions to use a VPN to connect to BBC iPlayer from anywhere.
BBC has continuous coverage of Wimbledon across BBC One, BBC Two, and BBC iPlayer. Live coverage starts around 11am BST every morning, with coverage continuing well into the evening. The presenting team features Isa Guha hosting morning coverage before Clare Balding takes over in the afternoon. They're joined by tennis legends including Pat Cash, Marion Bartoli, Kim Clijsters, Annabel Croft, Laura Robson and Naomi Broady providing expert analysis.
You'll need to be covered by a valid TV licence before watching any of the matches from SW19 on the BBC.
This £174.50 annual fee covers terrestrial channels available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin TV and others, as well as BBC iPlayer on your phone, tablet, and other devices.
Katie Boulter pictured in action against Solana Sierra on day three of the Wimbledon Championships
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BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, blocking those abroad who don't pay the annual TV licence from streaming the latest BBC dramas, factual series, comedies, reality shows, and more. Instead, BBC output appears on channels like BBC America, or streamers like BritBox or Netflix. But while this solution works fine when you're trying to catch-up on the latest Line of Duty or Doctor Who... it doesn't work for live coverage of a tennis tournament.
If you're travelling abroad during the Wimbledon 2025 tournament, which runs June 30 — July 13, you don't have to miss a moment of the action from SW19.
How? You'll need a good VPN comes in.
These popular services encrypt and route all of your online traffic via a VPN servers dotted across the planet. By picking a server location in the UK, you can make it appear to everyone else like you never left home. If you're outside the UK on holiday or business, you can swerve the geo-restrictions that block licence fee payers from accessing BBC iPlayer as normal by using a VPN to manually change your IP address and make it appear as though you're still in Blighty.
That means you'll be able to stream BBC iPlayer as if you were on the sofa at home, ensuring the fact that your summer holiday or business trip doesn't mean missing Carlos Alcaraz defending his title or any other hotly-contested matches.
Nuno Borges during his match against Billy Harris on day three at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London for Wimbledon 2025
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How to stream Wimbledon 2025 in the UK
If you weren't lucky enough to score a ticket to the Grand Slam — and don't fancy camping overnight in The Queue, your best chance to catch the performances throughout the fortnight of tennis will be to tune into the BBC.
BBC iPlayer has stepped-up the picture quality of its coverage, with Centre Court and No. 1 Court streamed in ultra-crisp 4K Ultra HD at high frame-rates for the first time. Elsewhere, the other 18 Championship courts will be covered by multi‑camera setup capable of capturing in HDR.
To unlock that extra detail on Centre Court, you’ll want no less than 25 Mbps — ideally nearer 30–40 Mbps for consistent HDR performance. But if you want to stream in Standard HD (1080p), the BBC advises to at least 5 Mbps to enjoy buffer‑free play.
Daily live streams on BBC iPlayer kickstart at 11am on outside courts, with No. 1 Court and Centre Court starting from 1.30pm right through to the final ball, whatever time that ends up being. If you miss any matches, BBC's Tonight at Wimbledon – your essential highlights and analysis show – airs on BBC Two at 9pmduring the first week, before being brought forward to 8pm in the second week of the tournament.
If the hotel Wi-Fi on your holiday is a little patchy, and you're struggling to stream the action on BBC iPlayer, these shows will be available on-demand on BBC iPlayer to stream at a later date. There's also on‑demand replays of every match, plus exclusive interviews, on BBC iPlayer as soon as play wraps up.
- Women’s Singles Final will be broadcast Saturday July 12, 2025 from 4pm BST
- Men’s Singles Final will be broadcast Sunday July 13, 2025 from 4pm BST
BBC iPlayer is available on a wide range of devices, from mobile phone to consoles
GETTY IMAGESIf you want to watch any of the above on BBC iPlayer, you'll need a compatible device. The good news is that iPlayer is available virtually everywhere. Here's a rundown of some of the most common gadgets that support the BBC streamer:
- Web browsers on Windows, macOS, Linux
- Mobile and tablet apps for iOS & Android
- Smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic, Hisense)
- Streaming sticks/boxes: Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, Google TV
- Gaming consoles: PS5, Xbox Series X/S
- Set‑top boxes: Sky Q, Sky Stream, Sky Glass, Virgin Media TV V6, Virgin Media Stream, EE TV
How to watch Wimbledon 2025 coverage outside of the UK
If you're travelling at the moment, you won't be able to access the terrestrial channels and livestream above.
Streaming services determine your location using your IP address, a unique identifier assigned by your internet provider whenever you connect online. These addresses are linked to geographic regions, allowing platforms to enforce content restrictions based on licensing agreements.
Your IP address is typically assigned dynamically each time you reconnect, though some providers use static IPs.
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Sign-up to an annual plan with ExpressVPN and unlock an additional four months of its award-winning service for free. ExpressVPN has apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Fire TV, Apple TV, routers, and even gaming consoles like PlayStation and Xbox. It offers 24/7 customer support and a 30-day money-back guarantee, which serves like a free trial when signing-up to a longer contract to unlock the best VPN deal
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VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) let you mask your real location by routing traffic through servers in different countries, tricking services into thinking you're elsewhere. This enables access to geo-restricted content that's only available for a specific region.
However, many streaming platforms actively block VPNs to enforce their geo-restrictions and licensing rules. BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, so cannot be accessed from other countries, since it's only available to those who pay the annual £174.50 TV licence fee that pays for its content.
How VPNs, like ExpressVPN, can unlock access to BBC iPlayer from anywhere EXPRESSVPN PRESS OFFICE To access BBC iPlayer from abroad, you'll need to connect to a UK server through your VPN. Once connected, visit the BBC iPlayer website or download the app for iOS or Android devices. Just sign into the same BBC Account that you use at home, and that's registered to the address where you pay the TV licence fee.
If you're in Australia, you can watch Wimbledon for free on 9Now without needing a VPN. The platform provides complete coverage of the tournament with English commentary. For those considering paid alternatives, US streaming services like ESPN Plus cost $109.99 annually, while FuboTV charges $79.99 annually and Sling TV requires $40 monthly. Canadian viewers face TSN Plus at CA$199 annually.
However, these premium options lack lengthy free trials or money-back guarantees, making them expensive for a two-week tournament. BBC iPlayer remains the most cost-effective choice for British TV licence holders abroad, offering comprehensive coverage without additional fees beyond your VPN service.
ExpressVPN is an award-winning VPN with gongs from the likes of Techradar, CNET, and Tom's Guide, with praise for its servers dedicated to fast, reliable streaming from anywhere in the world.
Monthly pricesstart from £4.04 and unlocks ExpressVPN across up to 8 devices.
Once installed, connect to a UK server from ExpressVPN's network of over 3,000 servers across 105 countries. The service uses proprietary Lightway protocol for enhanced speed and reliability, ensuring smooth streaming of festival performances.
The service works across all your devices - Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, smart TVs and streaming devices like Fire TV Stick. You can even use ExpressVPN's MediaStreamer feature to watch on devices that don't normally support VPNs, such as PlayStation or Xbox.
- Sign up for a VPN — like ExpressVPN
- Download the app to your preferred device (the best VPN deals include unlimited access to apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, more).
- Open the app and connect to a VPN server location in UK
- Connect to BBC iPlayer on the device where you'd like to watch
- Sign-in to BBC iPlayer or create an account
- Watch the 2025 Glastonbury Festival coverage from anywhere in the world
Of course, this technique should only be used by licence fee payers who will be outside of the UK while coverage of the festival is broadcast and don't want to miss out on the shows they've paid for with the annual £174.50 fee.
ExpressVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to watch the entire festival risk-free and recover your investment if you're not satisfied with the service.
VPNs are not illegal and are often mandated by companies to improve online security for employees. However, it's your responsibility to ensure that you're using these popular apps for legal use. Always check the terms and conditions of the streaming service.
Benefits of ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is particularly well-suited for streaming as it boasts VPN server locations in 105 countries providing access to global coverage. It offers ultra-fast speeds on a 10-Gbps network, essential for high-quality streaming without buffering.
With military-grade encryption, a strict no-logs policy, and features like split tunneling and a kill switch, your online activity stays private.
Based in the British Virgin Islands — outside Five Eyes jurisdiction — it avoids mandatory data retention laws, which means that even if the company was collecting data (it's not), law enforcement from the UK and US would be unable to compel ExpressVPN to hand over any information about its subscribers.
ExpressVPN supports a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, and routers. There's no limit on the number of ExpressVPN apps that you can download on your devices, and with a single subscription, you can connect to the VPN on eight gadgets at once.
Virtual Private Networks, like ExpressVPN, mask your real location by routing traffic through servers in different countries, tricking services into thinking you're elsewhere EXPRESSVPN PRESS OFFICE It also has a dedicated team that optimises the service for major streaming platforms. Round-the-clock customer support is available if you encounter any issues during race weekend.
ExpressVPN isn't the cheapest VPN. However, its 30-day money-back guarantee makes it a risk-free choice for privacy-conscious users and frequent streamers.
It should also give new customers the confidence to subscribe to one of its longer contracts, which unlock the biggest discounts.
What is a VPN?
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is software that protects and anonymises everything you do online. VPNs can conceal your online activities by routing traffic through an entrypted tunnel that connects to secure servers worldwide.
The most reliable VPNs employ the same encryption standard as governments in the United Kingdom and the United States, ensuring that even your Internet Service Provider (ISP) connected to Wi-Fi cannot record the websites you visit, the duration of your sessions on each site, or your current location. This protection extends to advertisers, trackers, and hackers, preventing them from monitoring your online behaviour.
Furthermore, personal information entered into online forms and sensitive data transmitted to and from your device will be safeguarded from hackers using strong encryption provided by a VPN.
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