John McEnroe paid the same a week as Mykhaylo Mudryk by BBC for Wimbledon shifts

Tennis legend John McEnroe banks more than £100,000 per week for his BBC Wimbledon punditry, new figures have revealed. The three-time former All-England champion has provided co-commentary for the annual grand slam tournament since 2004, broadcasting a familiar voice to television viewers in the UK.

But the full extent of the American’s earnings for the tournament has been laid bare after the corporation published the salaries of its highest earners on Tuesday. According to the figures, ‘Superbrat’ receives between £205,000 – £209,000 for just two weeks of work covering the championship for the BBC.

It effectively puts him on a Premier League footballer’s salary for the time that he needs to be in South London for the tournament. By comparison, Chelsea winger Mykhaylo Mudryk earns £100,000 per week at Stamford Bridge, according to spotrac, just slightly less than what McEnroe receives for each week that he covers Wimbledon.

Although the tennis great is only 45th on the BBC’s list of top earners overall, because his contract is condensed into a 14-day period he is comfortably the highest-paid broadcaster pro rata.

Match of the Day host Gary Lineker is still the corporation’s overall top earner, picking up £1.3m for his coverage of the 2021/22 football season. His published earnings appear to have dropped £10,000 from the previous season.

The show’s regular pundit Alan Shearer is the next highest-paid sports broadcaster, having earned around £450,000 for the 2021/22 season, while Match of the Day 2 host and Radio 5 Live Sport presenter Mark Chapman picked up around £325,000 for the same period.

McEnroe, now 64, won 77 singles titles including seven grand slams and 78 doubles titles during his illustrious career. His success on the court earned him £9.7m in prize money. But that is a drop in the ocean compared to the money he has earned from endorsements, real estate and television appearances. He is understood to currently have a net worth of around £90m.

The BBC has published the salaries of all of its top-earning employees. The threshold for publishing earnings has been adjusted this year in line with inflation, from £150,000 to £178,000.

However, the list is not totally comprehensive as the organisation does not have to publish the earnings of stars who are paid through its commercial wing, BBC Studios or independent production companies.

As a result, household names like Graham Norton, Tess Daly, Michael McIntyre and Claudia Winkleman are absent from the list.