American curling fans woke up to exciting news on Monday.
Not only is Rock League, curling’s first-ever professional league, beginning its inaugural season on Monday, but it will also be widely accessible to viewers in the United States. ESPN announced that it will stream Rock League matches on ESPN+ during the 2026 season, beginning at noon ET for the league’s first event at TMU Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.
The league features 60 athletes, 39 of whom competed in the 2026 Winter Olympics. 25 athletes earned a medal in Milan-Cortina.
A handful of recognizable names in the curling world will serve as broadcasters for the league. John Cullen and Tyler George will handle play-by-play duties, while Jennifer Jones, Joanne Courtney, Mike Harris, and Chelsea Carey serve as analysts. The CBC’s Devin Heroux and star American curler Matt Hamilton will serve as ice-side reporters, conducting interviews with players.
“ESPN+ allows Rock League to nurture and expand our growing audience in America while providing our fans with the most optimal viewing and fan experience possible,” The Curling Group CEO Nic Sulsky said in a release.
Six teams will compete during the seven-day “preview season.” Each team consists of five men’s and five women’s curlers. All six teams will compete in traditional four-player matches and two-person mixed doubles matches.
Curling in the United States has been hard to find on major platforms outside the Olympics and U.S. Olympic qualifying. NBCSN aired Curling Night in America from 2016 to 2020, the last time the sport had a prominent regular placement on linear television.
Rock League isn’t quite that, at least not yet, but it has the potential to grow into something much bigger.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.