Full Breakdown
ESPN Announces Broadcast Partnership with International Dance League
7/28/2026, 3:38:45 PM
ESPN Secures Global Rights for the 2026 IDL Season
ESPN and the International Dance League (IDL) have signed a worldwide media-rights agreement covering the league’s 2026 season. The deal places IDL events on ESPN2 in the United States and makes them available through the ESPN app and ESPN+ subscription service. Internationally, the contests will also stream on Disney+ in Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, South America, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
League Format and Participating Teams
IDL operates as the first global professional dance league, using a traditional sports model with six franchised teams, a regular-season schedule, and a championship finale. The teams are: Brotherhood (Vancouver, Canada), Quick Style (Oslo, Norway), Jam Republic (Singapore), GRV (Los Angeles, USA), Royal Family (Auckland, New Zealand) and 1MILLION (Seoul, South Korea). Since its May 2026 launch, the league reports having generated more than 650 million views and impressions across platforms.
2026 Season Broadcast Schedule on ESPN2
All U.S. broadcasts will air bi-weekly at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The announced dates are:
- July 28 — New York Series at Hammerstein Ballroom
- August 10 — Vancouver
- August 17 — Sydney
- August 27 — Seoul
These four events follow three earlier sold-out contests in New York, Vancouver and Sydney that have already taken place.
Official Statements & Responses
ESPN’s announcement highlighted the partnership as a means to bring “a broader sports audience” to a discipline it describes as both an art form and a legitimate sport. IDL’s leadership framed the agreement as an opportunity to showcase dance on a mainstream platform and to build a sustainable career pathway for professional dancers worldwide.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Dance already has one of the most passionate fanbases in the world.” — Connor Lim, CEO and co-founder of IDL