1/1/2026

The Rose Bowl kicks off on Jan. 1 at 4 p.m. ET.

Rose Bowl Harry How/Getty Images

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Bring in the new year with a hard-hitting 2026 Rose Bowl matchup between the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers. This NCAA college football playoff game is one of the biggest of the season. The undefeated Hoosiers are chasing their first national championship but have to take out the heavyweight Crimson Tide, who are after their 19th championship.

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How to Watch Alabama vs. Indiana Rose Bowl, At a Glance:

• Kickoff: Thursday, Jan. 1, at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT
• TV channel: ESPN
• Stream: DirecTV, Fubo, Sling, Hulu + Live TV

Looking for a great way to watch the Rose Bowl online? We’ve created a full guide on where to stream the Alabama vs. Indiana game online without cable and for free. Keep reading on to learn more.

How to Watch the 2026 Rose Bowl Game Online Without Cable

ESPN Unlimited is the official streaming platform for ESPN, and a subscription includes instant access to games and more exclusive content for $29.99 per month. You can save almost 17% off by purchasing an annual subscription for $299.99 per year. There is no free ESPN Unlimited trial, but it does include exclusive on-demand videos and access to content from what was formerly known as ESPN Insider.

ESPN

In addition to live sports, ESPN Unlimited has original shows to stream on-demand, plus game recaps and analysis, a shorter version of NFL Primetime and full replays of historic NFL matchups.

To expand your savings and content offerings, currently, you can bundle ESPN Unlimited with Hulu and Disney+ for a single monthly price of just $29.99 per month for all three services for 12 months of streaming.

How to Watch ESPN Online Free

While ESPN Unlimited doesn’t currently offer a free trial, there are other streamers that offer ESPN online free. If you want access to ESPN and additional channels, you can take advantage of DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and Fubo, which are all offering free trials or promos right now. Some of them can give you free access to ESPN for up to a week.

Here are all the ways to watch ESPN online, including ways to stream ESPN online for free.

DirecTV

DirecTV is offering a five-day free trial, which will let you watch ESPN and more for free. The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network is included in all of the streaming packages. In addition to unlimited DVR storage, you’ll get access to local channels and the ability to stream on as many devices as you want.

Sling TV

With prices starting at just $4.99 for a day pass, Sling TV includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN 3 (for ABC simucast) with it Sling Orange and Sling Orange + Blue packages — which features dozens of channels that can be streamed on up to three devices at the same time. Sling Orange + Blue features FS1 and the NFL Network too

Please note: Sling TV’s pricing and channel availability depends on your local TV market.

FuboTV

Fubo is another great option you can take advantage of to watch ESPN online. The streamer offers a seven-day free trial that’ll give you access to ESPN free and more than 240 live TV channels. The service offers a promo that’ll get you up to $30 off the first month, which can get you access to ESPN and more for as low as $54.99 (reg. $84.99 per month).

Hulu

For the most content options, Hulu + Live TV gives you access to the entire Hulu library in addition to more than 95 live TV channels — including ESPN for just $82.99 per month.

And, unlike the rest of the options, you can also expand your content library by bundling Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited. You’ll not only have all of the Hulu library to watch, but also exclusive and original programming available exclusively on ESPN Unlimited.

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