Has John McEnroe been handed a pay cut by the BBC for his Wimbledon commentary role?
John McEnroe has been listed among the highest-paid employees at the BBC merely for his two weeks of work covering the Wimbledon championships, but his name has not appeared on the 2025 list released by the organisation.
Tennis legend McEnroe was listed as earning between £195,000 and £199,999 in the 2024 wages report, placing him among the elite list of earners despite the limited number of days working for the corporation.
Now an updated list has been released dfor 2025, with McEnroe’s name no longer listed.
This may be because he was paid less for his role working on the BBC’s TV and radio coverage of Wimbledon this year, but there could also be an alternative explanation for his absence.
The BBC publishes the names and salaries of stars and executives who earn above a certain threshold every year and at the moment, that figure is £178,000.
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Yet this list does not include payments to production companies and it may be that McEnroe is now being paid via that route.
Stars who are subsequently employed by those production companies are not directly employed by the BBC, and therefore not on the salaries list.
McEnroe appeared to play a full role in the BBC coverage this year, but he may have trimmed down the number of matches he was working for the broadcaster, as his fee will be decided by the number of times he appears on air.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion was on commentary on the disappointingly one-sided women’s singles final for the BBC, as Iga Swiatek beat Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0.
He also contributed to their coverage of the men’s final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but did not commentate on the match as he always covers that match for his Amercian broadcaster.
Some of McEnroe’s BBC contributions were not well received this year, with social media users suggesting voices from the modern era of the game had more to offer.
He also caused a big stir when working for TNT Sports at the French Open in June, when he suggested Sinner and Alcaraz would be ‘favourites’ to beat 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal if they played him on a clay court.
“I’m saying Sinner and Alcaraz against Rafael Nadal on clay — you would make a serious argument with both guys that they would be favourite to beat Nadal, at his best,” the former world No 1 said.
“Do I think they’re gonna reach 20, 24 [Grand Slam titles] — either one of them? No, because that plateau is so hard.
“But these two guys right now, it’s like when you watch the NBA and you say nobody could be better than Michael Jordan.”
McEnroe went on to clarify those comments as he spoke on the BBC’s Six Love Six radio show at Wimbledon, as he suggested Nadal’s 14 titles at the French Open would not have happened if Sinner and Alcaraz were against him.
“He would still win six or seven of them. He might not have won 14 of them, that’s all I am saying,” said McEnroe.
“That these guys could challenge him. I did not say that they are better than him.
“Nadal would have the same equipment and blah, blah, blah. They just make it up my comment. They didn’t misunderstand it, they made it up.
“This is what I said ‘the fact you could even think someone could compete with Nadal is amazing’. You could look at Alcaraz the way he plays at the French and go, he could give him a match.”
BBC TOP EARNERS for 2024/25
1. Gary Lineker £1,350,000-£1,354,999 (no change)
2. Zoe Ball £515,000-£519,999 (down from £950,000-£954,999)
3. Alan Shearer £440,000-£444,999 (up from £380,000-£384,999)
4. Greg James £425,000-£429,999 (up from £415,000-£419,999)
=5. Fiona Bruce £410,000-£414,999 up from £405,000-£409,999)
=5. Nick Robinson £410,000-£414,999 (up from £345,000-£349,999)
7. Stephen Nolan £405,000-£409,999 (no change)
8. Laura Kuenssberg £395,000-£399,999 (up from £325,000-£329,999)
9. Vernon Kay £390,000-£394,999 (up from £320,000-£324,999)
10. Justin Webb £365,000-£369,999 (up from £320,000-£324,999)
* Equivalent pay band for 2023/24 is shown in brackets, with a description of the year-on-year change.
