Football fans in the United States will be able to watch Barcelona’s meeting with Real Madrid free of charge on ABC on Sunday 25 October, while viewers in Spain will need a paid television subscription to follow the match.
The broadcast is part of Walt Disney’s plan to increase the Spanish league’s reach in the US market. Walt Disney owns both ABC and ESPN, which holds the rights to show the competition until the 2028-29 season.
ABC will provide one hour of pre-match coverage before the fixture, which will also be available on ESPN in both English and Spanish. The network has a potential audience of about 128 million households, giving the match access to viewers who do not subscribe to the sports platform.
The game will be played at Spotify Camp Nou, with kick-off scheduled for 16:00 on the US east coast and 13:00 on the west coast.
In Spain, the match will be shown by DAZN as part of its paid subscription service. The contrasting arrangements reflect the way broadcast rights are distributed across different markets, despite the global commercial appeal of the Clasico.
The fixture attracts worldwide attention because of the popularity of Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as the presence of high-profile players including Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe.
