The insatiable demand for football coverage outside of the USA has received a welcome boost thanks to an agreement struck between DAZN and ESPN.

College football fans in the UK and Ireland are a dedicated bunch. Unfortunately, this is out of necessity. With no television rights deals announced ahead of the 2025 season, fans were left in doubt as to whether they’d have any legal means of watching the next generation of NFL stars this side of the pond. While it was subsequently confirmed that Sky Sports would be showing Notre Dame home games, there was seemingly nothing more than that — despite the continuing success of the Aer Lingus College Classic in Dublin, where last weekend’s exciting clash between Kansas State and Iowa State was not watchable in Ireland or the wider UK.

Until now.

As initially reported by the Sports Business Journal and subsequently confirmed in an official announcement by the platform, DAZN will be providing weekly access to college football games that includes ‘up to 25 top-tier college football games per week and around 20 games per week across men’s and women’s basketball free-to-view’ as the result of a deal struck between the streaming provider and ESPN.

“We are excited to team up with DAZN to serve sports fans across Europe during the upcoming NCAA football and basketball seasons,” Diego Londono, SVP Networks & Sports EMEA at The Walt Disney Company, confirmed. “Through this agreement, fans will be able to watch some of the most competitive matchups throughout the regular season, highlighted by marquee events such as the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division I Basketball Tournaments, as well as the College Football Bowl Games and Playoffs.”

According to the information released, college fans will be able to enjoy a broader slate than has previously been available outside of the old ESPN Player app, with the most notable of the games listed for Week 1 being the tilt between LSU and Clemson. The coverage will also include selected bowl games, all College Football Playoff games and the National Championship. Alongside the games, fans will also be able to enjoy ESPN College Gameday ahead of each Saturday’s lineup.

The games available will be drawn from ESPN’s coverage across three conferences: the SEC, ACC and Big 12. A significant and notable omission is the Big 10, which will leave fans of teams from one of the two biggest leagues feeling more than a little aggrieved.

At least initially, the games available will be free to watch but, as stated by DAZN, this will be for a limited time, with the service likely to follow a similar payment structure to the platform’s NFL Gamepass down the line.

“DAZN is committed to bringing the best possible entertainment experience and a comprehensive portfolio of thrilling U.S. college football and basketball content to fans in selected territories in Europe and MENA,” Shay Segev, DAZN Group CEO, commented. “Working with ESPN, this agreement allows DAZN to expand its global offering of premium North American sports properties, extending beyond NFL Game Pass and NHL.TV. It also means DAZN can broaden access to exciting U.S. sports content and support top-tier leagues in growing their international fanbases.”