{"id":70600,"date":"2026-08-14T17:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/70600\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T17:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:49:13","slug":"when-does-la-liga-start-how-to-watch-spanish-soccer-in-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/70600\/","title":{"rendered":"When does La Liga start? How to watch Spanish soccer in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Barcelona<\/a> be able to retain its La Liga title for the third year in a row? Or will rivals Real Madrid<\/a>, Atl\u00e9tico Madrid<\/a> or a dark horse contender win it all?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything to know about when the Spanish soccer<\/a> season starts, where to stream every match<\/a> and when all of your favorite teams will take the pitch. <\/p>\n

When does La Liga start?<\/p>\n

La Liga\u2019s 2026-27 season begins this Saturday, Aug. 15, with Alav\u00e9s hosting Getafe in the opening match \u2014 but don\u2019t expect a normal opening weekend.<\/p>\n

Because several clubs had players competing deep into the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a>, this season\u2019s calendar was reorganized to avoid overloading players that were still on international duty in July.<\/p>\n

The result? Many of the league\u2019s biggest clubs, including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atl\u00e9tico Madrid won\u2019t actually appear until later in the week:<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico Madrid vs. M\u00e1laga, originally a matchday-one fixture, was moved to\u00a0Wednesday, Aug. 19.Barcelona vs. Athletic Club,\u00a0Real Madrid vs. Real Sociedad\u00a0and\u00a0Valencia vs. Real Betis\u00a0were all pulled from opening weekend and will instead be played midweek,\u00a0Aug. 25-27.Those same three clubs \u2014 Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia \u2014 will play their actual first games of the season next weekend,\u00a0Aug. 22-23.Where to watch La Liga games in the U.S.<\/p>\n

When it comes to where to watch La Liga, ESPN holds exclusive U.S. broadcast rights through the 2028-29 season. <\/p>\n

You can watch all 380 matches in the U.S. with an ESPN Select<\/a> (the tier formerly known as ESPN+) or ESPN Unlimited<\/a> subscription, starting at $13 a month.<\/p>\n

\"Watch<\/a><\/p>\n

ESPN Unlimited<\/p>\n

\"Watch<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch every 2026-27 La Liga fixture on ESPN+ with an ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited plan.<\/p>\n

Sign up now<\/a><\/p>\n

ESPN Select and Unlimited get you every match regardless of a cable subscription, but if you also want access to the ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and (occasional) ABC broadcasts too, those channels are available through live-TV streaming bundles via DIRECTV<\/a>, Fubo<\/a>, Sling<\/a> and Disney+<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Where to watch La Liga in English:\u00a0Selected marquee matches \u2014 think El Cl\u00e1sico and the Madrid derby \u2014 will also air on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC. At least 20 matches are expected across those broadcast channels this season.Where to watch La Liga in Spanish:\u00a0ESPN Deportes will carry at least 200 matches in Spanish across the season, in addition to every match\u2019s Spanish-language stream on ESPN Select.Where to watch La Liga for FREE The occasional ABC broadcast can be picked up free over the air with an antenna<\/a>, though ABC\u2019s La Liga slate is limited and shouldn\u2019t be relied on for full-season access. You can also catch game for free via the aforementioned streaming bundles as many offer free trials. La Liga schedule, table 2026-27 <\/p>\n

Click here to see the schedule in full screen.<\/a><\/p>\n

Key dates to circle on the calendar:Aug. 15:\u00a0Season opener, Alav\u00e9s vs. GetafeAug. 19:\u00a0Atl\u00e9tico Madrid vs. M\u00e1laga (rescheduled)Aug. 22-23:\u00a0Matchday two, including first games for Barcelona, Real Madrid and ValenciaAug. 25-27:\u00a0Barcelona vs. Athletic Club, Real Madrid vs. Real Sociedad, Valencia vs. Real Betis (rescheduled midweek fixtures)Sept. 20:\u00a0Madrid derby, Atl\u00e9tico Madrid hosts Real MadridOct. 25:\u00a0First El Cl\u00e1sico of the season, Barcelona hosts Real Madrid at Camp NouApril 4:\u00a0Madrid derby return leg, Real Madrid hosts Atl\u00e9ticoMay 9:\u00a0Second El Cl\u00e1sico, Real Madrid hosts Barcelona at the Santiago Bernab\u00e9uMay 30:\u00a0Scheduled end of the regular seasonWho was promoted and was relegated in La Liga?<\/p>\n

The biggest story at the beginning of a new season is always the promotions. Three clubs move up from the second division this season: Racing Santander, Deportivo La Coru\u00f1a and M\u00e1laga. They replace Mallorca, Girona and Real Oviedo, all relegated at the end of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

Players to watch<\/p>\n

Many of the World Cup\u2019s biggest stars play in La Liga, making this league one fans who fell in love with the sport this summer will want to follow . <\/p>\n

From Real Madrid\u2019s Kylian Mbappe, Vini Jr. and Jude Bellingham to Barcelona\u2019s stacked lineup featuring many of the winning Spanish National Team\u2019s biggest stars, including Lamine Yamal, Pedri and the rumored transfer of Spanish captain Rodri from Manchester City, this season is going to be one to watch. <\/p>\n

International breaks look a little different this year<\/p>\n

Another change? La Liga also tweaked its fall schedule to better accommodate the international calendar. Instead of three separate one-week breaks, the league is taking one two-week pause and one additional one-week break in the fall. <\/p>\n

This means there will be no league matches on the weekends of Sept. 26, Oct. 3 and Nov. 14. There\u2019s also a break scheduled for the weekend of March 27. The traditional winter pause returns in late December into early January.<\/p>\n

At least six Spanish clubs are also expected to juggle Champions League or other UEFA competition fixtures alongside their league slate, which can shift league kickoff times and dates as the season moves along. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will Barcelona be able to retain its La Liga title for the third year in a row? Or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[82,27666,6491],"class_list":["post-70600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-madrid","tag-madrid","tag-the-top-photos-of-the-day-by-aps-photojournalists","tag-xlaligax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}