Short answer: in the US, ESPN has the whole US Open, with selected matches on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC and every court streamed inside the ESPN app. The catch is the tier: since ESPN split its streaming into two plans, the all-courts coverage sits with ESPN Unlimited (about $32 a month), not the cheaper ESPN Select that most people still think of as ESPN+.
At a glance
Watching the US Open tennis
| US rights holder | ESPN, on a deal running to 2037 |
| Every court, streamed | ESPN Unlimited |
| Free to air | Selected sessions on ABC |
| UK and Ireland | Sky Sports and NOW |
| When | Late August to mid-September |
Who has the rights
The US Open is run by the USTA, which sells the television rights itself. In the US, ESPN has held them exclusively since 2015, and the current agreement runs until 2037. There is no second broadcaster to shop around for.
That makes the US Open simpler than most sports. Everything comes from one company, and the only real question is which ESPN product gets you what you want to watch.
The tournament runs over two weeks, starting at the end of August, now with a Sunday opening day (the 2026 edition ran from 30 August to 13 September), with the qualifying week before that. The women's final is on the second Saturday and the men's final on the Sunday.
ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited?
This is where people get caught out. In 2025 ESPN reorganised its streaming into two plans, and the name "ESPN+" now refers to the cheaper of them.
| Plan | Price (Sept 2026) | US Open coverage |
|---|---|---|
| ESPN Select (formerly ESPN+) | About $14/month | Streaming-only content; limited compared with Unlimited |
| ESPN Unlimited | About $32/month or $320/year | ESPN, ESPN2, ABC's ESPN coverage and every court |
| Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Unlimited bundle | About $36/month | As Unlimited, plus the entertainment apps |
Unlimited is the one for tennis fans. It streams the ESPN networks themselves as well as the extra court feeds, which means the main show-court coverage and the outside courts are all in one app.
A live TV login works too. If you already have ESPN through cable or a streaming TV service, signing in to the ESPN app with that provider unlocks the linear channels and, generally, the extra court streams as well. Check what your provider includes before paying twice.
It's a monthly subscription. Taking Unlimited for one month in late August and cancelling afterwards is a legitimate and common way to cover the tournament.
Which matches go where
ESPN and ESPN2 carry the bulk of the television coverage, from the first match of the day to the end of the night session, switching between courts as matches develop.
ABC takes selected daytime sessions, typically at weekends, and is free to air with an antenna.
The ESPN app has individual feeds for each court, so you can stay with one match from start to finish rather than following the broadcast's choices.
US Open RedZone was new in 2026: a whip-around channel that jumps between the most important moments on different courts during the first week. It sat inside ESPN Unlimited and ran during the busy early rounds.
The finals are on ESPN. The main television broadcast of the finals has not been on ABC in recent years, so an antenna alone won't show you the last weekend.
Watching without cable
You have two broad routes.
ESPN Unlimited direct. The cheapest way to see everything, including every court. It works on smart TVs, streaming sticks, phones and computers through the ESPN app.
A live TV streaming service. YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling, Fubo and DirecTV carry ESPN and ESPN2, and their logins unlock the ESPN app. This makes sense if you want other channels anyway, but it's the more expensive way to watch tennis alone. Channel line-ups change, and carriage disputes do happen, so check before subscribing.
For the device side, including which smart TVs run the ESPN app, see our guide to IPTV and streaming apps on smart TVs.
Outside the US
The USTA sells rights separately in each country, and coverage varies more than for most tennis events.
| Country | Broadcaster | Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| UK and Ireland | Sky Sports | NOW Sports membership |
| Canada | TSN | TSN+ |
| Australia | Nine and 9Gem (free to air) | 9Now free; Stan Sport for every court |
| New Zealand | ESPN | Disney+ |
Australia is the generous one: much of the tournament is free on Nine, with Stan Sport as the paid option for the outside courts.
Your home subscription won't necessarily play when you're travelling. The safest approach abroad is the local licensed broadcaster.
Time zones and night sessions
The US Open's night sessions on Arthur Ashe Stadium start at around 7 p.m. Eastern and regularly run past midnight. That shapes how you'll watch.
West Coast viewers get the night session at a comfortable 4 p.m. start, but the first matches of the day at 8 a.m.
UK and Irish viewers see the day session in the late afternoon and evening, and the night session from midnight onwards. Replays and extended highlights become the realistic option.
Australian viewers get the day session overnight and the night session in the morning, which suits the free coverage on Nine rather well.
Replays of full matches are generally available on demand in the ESPN app for a period after the tournament, which helps if you can't stay up.
Planning for next year
The 2026 tournament finished on 13 September. If you're setting up for the 2027 edition, a few practical points.
Subscribe in the final week of August. Qualifying and the main draw's opening days are where the outside-court feeds are most useful, so there's no need to pay for the months before.
Check prices then, not now. ESPN raised its prices in September 2026, and streaming prices have risen most years recently.
Stay with the licensed route. "Every sports channel" IPTV packages that resell ESPN or Sky Sports aren't licensed, tend to fail on the busiest nights, and give you no recourse. Our sports streaming guide covers the legitimate options more broadly.
Getting the most from the ESPN app
With dozens of matches a day in the first week, the US Open is as much about navigation as subscription. A few habits help.
Favourite the players you follow. The ESPN app lets you follow players and events, which surfaces their matches when they go on court instead of leaving you to hunt through the court list.
Use the court list, not the home page. During the tournament ESPN adds a US Open hub with a feed for each court. Match order is published the evening before on the US Open's own website and app, which also show live scores for every court.
Expect start times to slip. Only the first match on each court has a fixed time. Later matches follow on, so a match listed "fourth on" might start mid-afternoon or early evening depending on how long earlier matches run. Rain also delays outside courts; Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong have roofs, the others don't.
Watch on a big screen where possible. The ESPN app runs on Roku, Fire TV, Google TV, Apple TV, games consoles and most smart TVs. A wired connection or strong 5 GHz Wi-Fi helps with fast-moving tennis, where dropped frames are more noticeable than in most sports.
Mind spoilers. Streams can run up to a minute behind the live scoreboard. If you keep the official scores app open alongside, silence its notifications.
Quick answers
What channel is the US Open tennis on? ESPN and ESPN2, with some sessions on ABC. Every court streams in the ESPN app.
Is the US Open on ESPN+? ESPN+ is now called ESPN Select, and it offers only limited coverage. Full coverage, including ESPN and ESPN2, is in ESPN Unlimited.
Can I watch the US Open for free? In the US, only the sessions shown on ABC, with an antenna. In Australia, Nine shows much of the tournament free to air.
Where can I watch the US Open in the UK? Sky Sports, or a NOW Sports membership if you don't have Sky.
Are the US Open finals on ABC? The finals have been shown on ESPN in recent years, not ABC, so you need ESPN through cable, a live TV service or ESPN Unlimited.
How much does ESPN Unlimited cost? About $32 a month or $320 a year after the September 2026 increase, or about $36 a month bundled with Disney+ and Hulu.
When is the next US Open? It starts in the last days of August, with a Sunday opening day, and runs for two weeks, finishing in mid-September.
Streaming plans and prices change often, and each year's broadcast schedule is confirmed shortly before the tournament. Check ESPN's plan details before subscribing. Checked September 2026.