ESPN to Stream Donald Trump's 2026 Patriot Games
The inaugural Patriot Games, a four-day high-school athletic competition organized by Freedom 250, will be streamed on the ESPN app from Aug. 9-12, with a primetime special on Aug. 13.
The first edition of the "Patriot Games," a four-day competition featuring two top high-school athletes from each U.S. state, territory and tribal nation, will be streamed live on the ESPN app beginning Sunday, Aug. 9, before concluding with an hour-long primetime special on ESPN on ABC on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 9 p.m. ET. The event, organized by Freedom 250 and held at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio, will test participants aged 14-17 in strength, endurance, agility, teamwork and perseverance through challenges modeled on the Presidential Fitness Test and a military-style boot-camp circuit, culminating in an obstacle-course finale. Winners will share a $250,000 prize pool intended to support their education and future goals. ESPN will anchor coverage with Laura Rutledge, Matt Barrie, Beth Mowins and Tom Hart, while analysts Jordan Rodgers, Sean Farnham, Ron Slay and Danielle Lawrie provide commentary. Brooke Weisbrod, Marion Crowder, Rutledge and Barrie will co-host the closing special.