Barça‑Madrid classic aired live by ABC, setting US audience records

The upcoming Barça‑Madrid Classic, the 2026 Spanish Super Cup final, will be played on Sunday, October 25 at 21:00 and will be broadcast free‑to‑air by ABC throughout the United States, following the decision to share LaLiga rights.

maintains the broadcasting rights of LaLiga until the 2028‑29 season and has agreed to share the match with the generalist channel ABC. ABC began its broadcasts in the United States in 1948, becoming the third channel after NBC (1939) and CBS (1941), and belongs to The Walt Disney since 1996, just like.

The broadcast will open the duel between Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé free‑to‑air for the entire U.S. population, accompanied by a one‑hour pre‑show that will display the progress of the Spotify Camp Nou works. The analysis by Pere Punti, MD correspondent, highlights that the measure aims to boost LaLiga's presence on traditional television.

The Classic will also be available on the pay‑TV platform, both in English and Spanish versions. This option will not prevent the general audience from accessing it for free via ABC.

The clash will kick off at 15:00 on the East Coast and at 12:00 on the West Coast, times that favour the U.S. audience. In Spain, the match is broadcast in ‘prime time’, while on the Iberian Peninsula it is seen after dinner.

Second encounter and international timings

The second Super Cup showdown, scheduled for Saturday, May 8 or Sunday, May 9 at the Bernabéu, will start at 16:15 Spanish time and will be broadcast by Movistar LaLiga. In the Asian slot, the match will be shown at 22:15 in China and at 23:15 in Japan, while in the U.S. it will be at 10:15 on the East Coast and at 07:15 on the West Coast.

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