What TV channels will Marquette play on in 2026?

If you haven’t been paying much attention to the shifting media landscape over the the past 2 years, this week’s announcement of TV networks and tip times for Marquette’s games may have been a bit of a surprise. The new Big East media contract has kicked in and with more stakeholders than ever (FOX, NBC, Turner, ESPN), the platforms you need to catch games has increased quite a bit compared to 2024.  

For Marquette, that means not only will you need some time of cable package, but also 2 separate streaming platforms.

And that got me wondering, how does this distribution compare to prior years?

Takeaways

• The biggest takeaway is that we were so incredibly spoiled the last 12 years to have that contract with FOX. Not only were almost all games on nationally broadcast channels, but you didn’t have to do much searching. For the first time since FS1 launched, Marquette won’t play double digit games there, with 8 in total.
• The streaming era is no longer coming, it’s officially here.
  • Over 1/3rd of Marquette’s games will be solely broadcast on streaming networks (plus at least 1 more in the Big East Tournament, not listed above), with 7 going on Peacock and 4 going on ESPN+.
    • Two of MU’s best nonconference games (vs Maryland and at Purdue) will be on Peacock, so you might want to jump on some of the sporadic deals they run.
• There is still one game to be determined, MU’s visit to Madison, so there is a chance there could be another channel listed, if that ends up on the Big Ten Network.
• I was pleasantly surprised to see that all of the games Turner Sports picked up will be on linear broadcasts, and not stuffed into HBO Max streaming. There will be 5 on TNT and 2 on TruTV, with 4 of the 5 TNT telecasts being simulcast on TruTV as well
  • With TNT losing their NBA rights this season, I’m very interested to see how heavily they market the college rights they now have, and what that production looks like.

Finally, as a fan, I get that this kinda sucks. You need to spend $80+ a month for cable/YoutubeTV, and $15 for Peacock and then still need 3 different platforms to watch them. It is not a good user experience for a casual fan that just wants to sit down and watch their team, but doesn’t want to do 20 minutes of research to find it. I completely get that.

But the truth is, the alternative is soooo much worse. The Big East got what I believe to be a very good TV contract to keep the revenue needed to compete at the highest level of D1. And with reputable brands that have huge national followings.

So I 100% agree and sympathize with those that will complain about the current landscape for watching Big East basketball. It’s so unfriendly. But it’s the same way for the Big Ten and Big12 and NBA and NFL and basically any valuable sports league. There is no going back, unless you are willing to give up millions of dollars a year. LOLOLOL and no one is doing that.

Thus, the best advice is to bookmark Marquette’s schedule page where you can get dates, times and TV networks all with a simple scroll.

https://gomarquette.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

It may be a bit more difficult to find the games, but I for one am thankful MU has a team worth watching.

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