Steeped in football folklore and sporting romance, the FA Cup stands as the soccer world’s most famous domestic knockout tournament. Thanks to ESPN’s comprehensive coverage, footy fans in the US need not miss one magical moment.
Dedicated sports streaming service ESPN Plus has been a huge hit with baseball, UFC and NFL fans since its launch, but since striking an exclusive deal in 2019 with the English Football Association for broadcast rights in the States, its now become a near indispensable subscription for soccer fans in the USA, with the networks coverage appearing primarily on the service. If you love soccer, then getting the FA CUp on ESPN Plus is a no brainer.
Much of what makes the FA Cup unique comes from the fact that any team from the top 10 tiers of English football are invited to take part, offering the dream of a trip to Wembley for the showpiece final for lower league opposition.
While it’s often argued the FA Cup may have lost some of its priority in recent years to the Premier League, the ‘magic of the cup’ remains for fans and players alike, making it an essential watch for any self respecting footy fan.
Read on to find out the latest info on what ESPN Plus FA Cup coverage gives you, as well as the cheapest way to subscribe to the service.
FA Cup on ESPN Plus: what can I watch?
The terms of ESPN’s deal with the English Football Association means ESPN Plus currently has the rights to show 79 matches over the course of the season, including both semi-finals and the final at the iconic Wembley Stadium.
As well as showing select matches from the tournament’s early stages, including the First Round, ESPN Plus also offers FA Cup highlights shows following match days, and FA Cup preview shows.
The deal also includes the FA Community Shield, the annual match between FA Cup and Premier League champions to start the English football season.
How much does it cost to watch FA Cup on ESPN Plus?
To watch the FA Cup on ESPN Plus in the US, you’ll need to subscribe, with the service currently being offered at $5.99 a month or $59.99 yearly.
Unfortunately the handy ESPN Plus free trial promotion has recently come to an end, meaning that there’s been little in the way of discounts or offers available from ESPN directly or any partnering cable providers for the streaming service.
Nevertheless, there is one there does still remain a pretty enticing money-saving option involving ESPN Plus. With ESPN jointly owned by Disney, the entertainment giant is offering a bundle that lets you get ESPN Plus, Disney Plus and Hulu for a flexible monthly sum of just $13.99. You can sign up for the great value bundle by heading to Disney Plus’s website here.
This means that alongside all the tasty sports content that ESPN Plus offers, you’ll also be able to delve into a vault of Classic Disney Animations, Pixar movies, and documentaries from National Geographic plus the entire Marvel and Star Wars film library via Disney Plus as well as having access to Hulu’s films, TV shows and top notch originals like The Handmaid’s Tale and Little Fires Everywhere.
Subscribed to separately, you’d be looking at a fee of $18.97 a month, or $24.97 if you opted for Hulu without ads, making the $13.99 monthly asking price for the bundle one of the best value streaming offers currently out there.
What other sport content can I watch on ESPN Plus?
In addition to the comprehensive live coverage from each round of the FA Cup, the service gives you access to a wealth of exclusive live action from a cornucopia of other sports, including baseball, ice hockey, soccer, basketball and American football.
The big draw for many will be ESPN Plus’ unmatched coverage of UFC live streams, with the platform having the rights to live stream all of the MMA promotion’s events in the US. That means every Fight Night and numbered PPV event is now shown on ESPN Plus (although the latter still requires viewers to pay a PPV fee for access).
The streaming service also offers viewers every out-of-market MLS match, alongside one NHL and MLB game per day during their respective regular seasons.
You’ll also be able to watch live sporting events like golf’s PGA Tour, top-tier boxing matches and a wealth of international soccer.
In addition to all the live coverage on offer, ESPN Plus also hosts plenty of exclusive original sports programming too, with must-see programmes like The Fantasy Show, acclaimed sports analysis series Detail alongside a treasure trove of award-winning 30 for 30 documentaries.
What devices can I watch FA Cup on ESPN Plus with?
It’s really straightforward to tune into ESPN Plus FA Cup coverage both on the go and at home thanks to the service’s wide support of devices, from PCs and tablets to smartphones and games consoles.
You can watch ESPN Plus on your web browser by heading to the service’s website and signing up for the service.
ESPN Plus also has support for most of the latest generation of consoles, including PS5 and Xbox Series S and Series X as well as older machines such as all Xbox One models and the PS4, (but not unfortunately the Nintendo Switch).
If you’re more of a mobile sports watcher, download the ESPN app from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and sign up for the service there.
Or, if you like the traditional feel of sitting on the couch to watch the game, ESPN Plus is available on Apple TV, Chromecast and the Amazon Fire TV platform – and now on the Roku platform, too.
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