Sports are on an impressive run in the United States with 2026 Winter Olympics and 2026 World Cup viewership setting records. Patriotism is also running high, with fans tuning in to watch Americans compete in these events and other 250th Anniversary events. President Donald Trump hopes these trends continue.
Patriot Games Partners with ESPN
First announced by President Trump last year, the Patriot Games will see one high school male and one high school female from each state compete in an Olympic-style competition.
While the event has been jokingly compared to the plot of "The Hunger Games," which saw each fictional territory/state send one male and one female to fight to the death, the Patriot Games will not take things quite this far.
Instead, the athletes will compete in Olympic-style challenges to crown one male and one female as victors who will share $250,000 in scholarship prizes.
The event runs Aug. 9 through Aug. 11, with coverage streaming on the ESPN App, followed by a one-hour primetime special on ABC on Aug. 13. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) partnered with the Patriot Games for the coverage.
While some of these details have been set for months, ESPN shared the details again this week, as did the White House account on X, with submissions for athletes due on July 10.
"Outstanding young Americans from across the nation will soon come to Washington D.C. to compete, inspire, and showcase the values that have shaped the United States for nearly 250 years, with a massive prize on the line," the White House tweeted.
Contestants need to be between 14 and 17 years old and residents of the state they will represent. They must also submit a video of why they want to participate.
Viewership Unknown
For Disney, it is unknown how much they paid for the viewing rights to this first-time event. The risk could be small given it’s the first time and it may have been low-cost. There is also the possibility that Disney partnered with the Trump administration in hopes of securing favor down the road for acquisitions or its current battles with the FCC.
Viewership remains a big question mark and the Patriot Games come as NFL preseason games are starting and will command strong viewership across the nation.
The struggle here for Freedom 250, which is putting on the event, and ESPN will be a lack of familiar names.
Patriotism could be a key to the event with the recent Fourth of July holiday seeing strong viewership for fireworks and various TV events.
Fox News had its best-ever Fourth of July night ratings while NBC saw a 59% increase year-over-year for its fireworks, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Another item that may hurt viewership is that it is amateur athletes, and there are no betting markets on online sportsbooks or prediction markets. Those two factors have contributed to viewership growth for several sports.
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