Here’s How to Watch the 2026 ESPY Awards Online for Free

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For the first time in five years, the ESPYs return to New York City. Hosted by Marcello Hernández, the 34th annual ESPY Awards (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards) honors the best and brightest in sports with superstar nominees, including Jalen Brunson, Shohei Ohtani, Lionel Messi, A’ja Wilson, Hilary Knight, Alysa Liu, Drake Maye, Fernando Mendoza, Myles Garrett, Aryna Sabalenka and others.

The ESPYs take place at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York on Wednesday (July 15).

What Time Is the 2026 ESPY Awards?

The ESPYs airs on Wednesday (July 15) at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The awards ceremony broadcasts on ABC.

Who Is Performing During the 2026 ESPY Awards?

Additionally, De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Slick Rick and others are all set to perform.

Where to Watch The 2026 ESPY Awards for Free

If you’re a sports fan and cord-cutter, then there are a number of ways to watch the ESPYs without cable — especially if you want to watch for free. For example: DirecTV offers a five-day free trial to try out the streaming service, while others like Fubo and Hulu + Live TV offer free trials too, so you can watch ABC without spending money up front.

A subscription to DirecTV gets you access to live TV, local and cable channels, including ABC, at $59.99 for the first month of service ($89.99 per month afterward). The service even offers a five-day free trial to watch for free, if you sign up now.

You can watch local networks, such as NBC, CBS, FOX and PBS, while you can also watch many cable networks, including FX, AMC, A&E, Bravo, Cartoon Network, ESPN, FS1, VH1, Fuse, CNN, Food Network, Lifetime, CNBC, BET, MTV, Paramount Network and many others.

Sling TV offers Blue, which comes with ABC. With more than 40 channels, the streaming plan goes for $45.99 per month and comes with a free cloud DVR and additional free channels. Please note: Pricing and channel availability vary from market-to-market.

Fubo starts at $63.99 for the first month ($88.99 per month afterward) with more than 220 channels — including local and cable, like ABC — that are streamable on smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and on web browsers. And with a five-day free trial, you can watch for free, if you act fast and sign up now.

The service gets you live access to local broadcast networks including NBC, CBS and FOX, while it also has dozens of cable networks, such as FX, Bravo, TLC, ESPN, E!, FS1, MTV, CMT, ID, Ion, OWN, Paramount Network, TV Land, VH1 and much more.

The broadcast network ABC is available to watch with Hulu + Live TV too. Prices for the cable alternative start at $89.99 per month, while each plan comes with Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited at no additional cost. Hulu + Live TV might be best for those who want all of these streaming services together in one package. It also features many other networks, like CBS, NBC, FOX, BET, CMT, Disney Channel, ESPN, Hallmark Channel and more.

ESPN Unlimited is the official streaming platform for ESPN. A subscription includes instant access for $29.99 per month. However, you can save almost 17% off by purchasing an annual subscription for $299.99 per year. It features every ESPN network, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, SEC Network+ and ACC Network Extra — all in one streaming service.

In addition to live sports, ESPN Unlimited has original programming to stream on demand. While the service doesn’t offer a free trial, you can still watch ESPN Unlimited with a clever workaround to watch online for free. Learn more about how to get a free trial to access ESPN Unlimited here.

More Ways to Watch

If you’re overseas and you’d like to stream the ESPYs internationally, you can sign up for a VPN, such as ExpressVPN, NordVPN and PureVPN, which lets you access a number of streaming platforms, like the ones mentioned above — legally.

The ESPY Awards broadcasts on ABC on Wednesday (July 15) at 8 p.m. ET/PT. One of the best ways to watch the awards ceremony is with DirecTV.

Check out a complete list of categories and nominees on the ESPYs website.