American dream! El Clasico set for free ABC broadcast to 128 million US households
El Clasico is heading to American network television for the first time. Barcelona's home clash with Real Madrid on October 25 is expected to reach more than 128 million households across the United States, with Disney broadcasting the game free of charge on ABC.
Details: The match will be the 265th official meeting between the two Spanish giants and kicks off at 21:00 local time at Spotify Camp Nou, which translates to 4 p.m. Eastern and 1 p.m. Pacific in the United States. The kickoff time was chosen specifically with the American market in mind: the five-hour gap with the east coast, caused by Spain switching to winter time the night before the US does, puts the game in the Sunday afternoon window. ABC will air a one-hour pre-match show starting at 3 p.m. ET, while the game will also stream on ESPN+ in English and Spanish, with dedicated coverage on ESPN Deportes. The free-to-air broadcast means no subscription of any kind will be required to watch in the US, where ABC reaches roughly 128 million households. The game will go head-to-head with the NFL's Sunday afternoon schedule, traditionally the most powerful television window in American sports.
For La Liga and Disney-owned ESPN, which holds US rights through the end of the 2028-29 season, the move is a calculated gamble on the growth of soccer in America after the 2026 World Cup. The early signs are promising: Barcelona's season opener against Elche drew around one million viewers, the highest-rated English-language La Liga broadcast on ESPN platforms, while last season's El Clasico reached roughly 1.3 million across ESPN outlets. Now the league's flagship fixture gets the full network showcase, the fourth La Liga match on ABC this season, as ESPN plans to feature at least 20 marquee matches across its linear channels this campaign. All 380 matches remain available on ESPN+, but putting Barcelona against Real Madrid in front of every American home with a television is a statement of intent about where the league sees its future growth.
It's worth noting that the return fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu in May has been scheduled for 16:15 Spanish time, a slot aimed squarely at Asian audiences, with a 10:15 a.m. east coast kickoff in the United States. That contrast underlines how deliberately the October date was shaped for America: the first Clasico of the season belongs to the US market, free to air on ABC.
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Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
