Sports on US television in 2026 are spread across a handful of networks. So most fans end up moving between several of them in a single week. A baseball playoff game might be on FOX, an NBA opening night on NBC, and a Monday football game on ESPN. These are the networks with the biggest slates this season, based on the schedules announced so far.
ESPN
ESPN remains the undisputed king – it’s the network with the broadest coverage. In 2026, it carried Monday Night Football with ABC, and it will show Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027, the first Super Bowl ever carried by ESPN. The NBA is another large part of its schedule, with 80 regular-season games on ABC and ESPN this year, including five on Christmas Day, in what will be its 25th straight season of NBA coverage.
Fans without cable can use ESPN Unlimited through the ESPN app. The app also has a betting tab powered by DraftKings, which became the official sportsbook and odds provider of ESPN in December 2025, so fans who follow odds have a sports betting app one tap away from the game. Betting is only for adults 21 and older where it is legal.
FOX Sports
FOX Sports has the biggest baseball stage this month. Every game of the 2026 World Series airs on FOX, with Game 1 on Friday, Oct. 23, and a potential Game 7 on Oct. 31. The NLDS and NLCS are on FOX and FS1. All of it streams on FOX One, and games can also be watched on the FOX Sports app with a TV provider login.
On Sundays, FOX has the afternoon NFL games for the NFC and picks one each week as its America’s Game of the Week. It also has the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 31, 2027. FOX carried the English-language broadcasts of this summer’s World Cup as well.
NBC Sports
NBC Sports has Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock. This closes out the NFL weekend and has become a regular fixture for NFL fans, and it has the last game of the Thanksgiving triple-header, Chiefs vs. Bills.
NBA coverage returns on Oct. 20 with a season-opening tripleheader on NBC and Peacock. NBC Sports carries 100 regular-season games this year, with Peacock streaming every NBC game and a slate of its own on Monday nights. NBC also has the MLB Wild Card Series this year, which moved over from ESPN, and Peacock has an exclusive NFL game on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2027.
CBS Sports
CBS Sports has the Sunday afternoon NFL games that lean toward AFC teams. The games airing on a local CBS station can also be streamed on Paramount+, where subscribers get every NFL playoff game that CBS carries.
It has the national Thanksgiving game at 12:30 PM ET, Bears vs. Lions, and the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 31, 2027. This is one of the early entries on the 2027 sporting calendar. In the fall, it also shows Big Ten football on Saturdays, and in March it shares the NCAA men’s basketball tournament with TNT Sports.
TNT Sports
TNT Sports has the American League side of the MLB playoffs this year, with the ALDS and ALCS on TBS, and the games also stream on HBO Max. The network no longer has the NBA, which has moved to ESPN, NBC, and Prime Video, but it keeps a place on the schedule through baseball and March Madness. Its share of the NCAA tournament runs across TBS, TNT, and truTV, which makes March one of its busiest months.
Prime Video
Prime Video has Thursday Night Football from Week 2 through Week 18, the Black Friday game between the Broncos and Steelers on Nov. 27, and a Christmas Eve game with the Texans and Eagles. In its second season of NBA coverage, it has games on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturday afternoons.
