Event watch guide
How to watch the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon
The 50th anniversary of the five-borough course is Sunday, November 1. ESPN2 carries the national race window, while WABC-TV and ABC7 New York serve the New York market.
Last reviewed · ~4 min read
Where can I watch the New York City Marathon?
The 2026 TCS New York City Marathon is Sunday, November 1, 2026. In the US the race airs on ESPN2, WABC-TV / ABC7 New York, the ESPN app, and ESPN Deportes (Spanish) under New York Road Runners's current rights deal, but the hour-by-hour 2026 telecast windows have not been published yet. The 2025 windows are shown below for reference and this page is updated when the new schedule lands.
Step by step
- Choose the national or local feed. Use ESPN2 nationally. In the New York area, use WABC-TV Channel 7 or ABC7 New York's app and website.
- Check the published window before race morning. ESPN and WABC announce the hour-by-hour schedule in the weeks before the race. Until that lands, treat the previous year's windows as a guide, not a guarantee.
- Use the NYRR app for uninterrupted pro-race coverage. The official New York Road Runners app lists complete professional-race coverage and runner tracking on mobile devices.
Quick FAQ
- What channel is the New York City Marathon on?
- ESPN2 carries the national live broadcast and WABC-TV Channel 7 carries the New York market broadcast. New York Road Runners, ABC7/WABC-TV and ESPN signed a multi-year year-round broadcast partnership in 2024, so those networks are fixed. The exact hour-by-hour windows are published by ESPN and WABC closer to race day.
- Can I watch the NYC Marathon online?
- Yes. The ESPN app streams the race for viewers who authenticate with a pay-TV or ESPN subscription, and it has carried the pre-race and continuing coverage around the ESPN2 window. In the New York tri-state area, ABC7NY.com and the ABC 7 New York app have streamed the local coverage. The official NYRR app carries complete professional-race coverage and runner tracking.
- Is there a Spanish-language NYC Marathon stream?
- ESPN has carried the Spanish-language broadcast on ESPN3 alongside the English feed, with an ESPN Deportes rebroadcast the following day. Confirm the current year's Spanish plan on ESPN's schedule once it is published.
- Can I watch the New York City Marathon for free?
- The New York market broadcast on WABC-TV Channel 7 is free over the air with an antenna. The national ESPN2 window and the ESPN app require a pay-TV or ESPN subscription. There is no free national live stream.
- Is there a replay of the NYC Marathon?
- ESPN has aired a Spanish-language rebroadcast on ESPN Deportes the day after the race, and ABC has carried a national finish-line show on race-day afternoon. Replay availability is confirmed only when the broadcast schedule is published.
The broadcast plan
The networks are settled: New York Road Runners, ABC7/WABC-TV, and ESPN signed a multi-year, year-round broadcast partnership in 2024, and ABC7/WABC-TV and ESPN2 have carried the marathon since 2013. What is not settled this far out is the hour-by-hour schedule — ESPN and WABC publish that in the weeks before the race.
So this page does not print a 2026start time it cannot source. The table below is last year's published schedule, labelled as such, to show the shape the race-day window has taken. It is replaced with the confirmed schedule the day ESPN publishes it.
| Where | Window | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| ESPN2 | 8–11:30 a.m. ET | Main national race window |
| WABC-TV / ABC7 New York | 8 a.m.–1 p.m. ET, with pre-race coverage 7–8 a.m. ET | New York market |
| ESPN app / ESPN+ | 7–8 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. ET | Pre-race and continuing coverage around the ESPN2 window |
| ESPN3 | 8–11:30 a.m. ET | Spanish-language broadcast |
NYRR, ABC7/WABC-TV and ESPN signed a multi-year year-round broadcast deal in 2024, so the networks are fixed for 2026. The hour-by-hour 2026 windows are not published yet.
Source: ESPN Press Room — ESPN and WABC announce the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon broadcast schedule, verified .
Cheapest catalogued way to get ESPN2: ESPN Unlimited at $29.99/month ($299.99/year).
What you can watch without cable
WABC-TV Channel 7 is a free over-the-air broadcast in the New York designated market area, so an antenna covers the local feed at no cost. Outside that market there is no free national live stream: the ESPN2 window and the ESPN app both require a pay-TV login or an ESPN subscription.
If you only want the professional race rather than the full telecast, the official New York Road Runners app carries pro-race coverage and runner tracking, which is often the cheapest way to follow the finish.
Who to follow
Who's covering the New York City Marathon?
Use Spot's live rankings to find publishers with recent, sustained coverage instead of relying on lifetime follower counts.
- Best Running YouTube channels
Active running video publishers ranked by recent reach and publishing consistency, not lifetime subscriber count.
- Best Running podcasts
Current running shows for previews, athlete interviews, and post-race analysis.
- Running on Spot Sports
Scores, upcoming races, and the full running coverage index on Spot Sports.
Update log
- September 2, 2026:Confirmed the November 1 race date against Spot's own
eventsrow (world-athletics) and the networks against the 2024 NYRR/ABC7/ESPN partnership announcement. Corrected an earlier draft that printed the 2025 ESPN2 and ABC7 windows as though they were the 2026 schedule: the 2026 hour-by-hour windows have not been published, so they are now shown as 2025 reference windows only.
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