How to Watch Cricket in the USA

Willow, Sling, Fubo, DIRECTV and ESPN all turn up when you search for cricket in America. Which one has your game depends on the competition. An ICC tournament, a domestic league and a bilateral series can each sit with a different company.

Find the U.S. broadcaster for the exact match you want

Begin with the competition, its season and a specific fixture. Cricket rights are sold per event and territory. A company that broadcasts one tournament in the United States can show a different lineup for the next series, even when the same teams play.

The ICC's official broadcasters table named Willow TV for the United States and Canada during the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup. That competition had 55 matches, played from February 7 to March 8, 2026.

To find the broadcaster for another match, gather these details in order:

The organizer names the company with the US rights, the broadcaster schedules the event, and your TV provider tells you which channels you get. For Willow, the official Willow TV channel page has a “WILLOW CHANNEL SCHEDULES” link that opens the event listings. A match listed there still needs the right account or channel access.

Cricbuzz also has a Live Streaming series filter that shows series with streams offered in your region. For a single match, find the fixture and channel in the broadcaster’s event schedule.

For an India versus Australia bilateral series, look for the series organizer's US rights announcement. The 2026 ICC tournament listing covers a different competition.

Should you subscribe directly or watch through a TV provider?

If you already pay for live TV, check what your plan includes before you order a second cricket service. A direct subscription and a TV package can lead to similar broadcasts, with different billing, channels and replay features. The MLC viewing guide checks season rights, live matches and replays for US viewers.

Willow by Cricbuzz sells direct digital cricket access. Willow-branded channels also come through US television providers including Sling, Fubo and DIRECTV. A provider may carry a channel that your plan leaves out.

DIRECTV has advertised Willow TV and Willow TV Xtra through its Sports Pack. If you already subscribe, compare the exact channel, what your package includes, any extra charge and the cancellation terms.

• Direct Willow access: A dedicated account and app. Its event list and replay terms decide what you get.
• Existing TV package: Access without another purchase, if your plan includes the channel carrying the fixture.
• Sports add-on: A way to get a premium channel your base package lacks, billed separately.

ESPN is a separate case. ESPN's April 2026 guidance said ESPN Select and ESPN Unlimited could provide ESPN+ content in its app and browser. That gives eligible accounts access to ESPN content, but the cricket competition must have assigned its US broadcast rights, covering live matches, streams, and replays, to ESPN.

Willow Sports, Willow TV and Willow Xtra are not the same channel

Willow appears as a free scheduled channel, a premium TV channel and an extra channel in a paid package. The name on the event listing tells you which one you need.

FAST means free ad-supported streaming television. A FAST channel runs programmed content, sometimes including events whose free rights were arranged specifically. Paying for a premium channel, or picking a recording from an on-demand library, works differently.

TrillerTV also described a free 24/7 Willow-related linear channel with programmed cricket such as classic matches, highlights and news, alongside its paid Willow subscription. The ICC's free live Willow Sports arrangement, covered below, applied to one 2026 tournament.

If you get Willow Sports in a base package, you could still need premium Willow TV for a fixture listed there. Check the exact channel name and fixture in your carrier's program guide.

Can you watch cricket for free in the United States?

Yes. Official free access has been offered to US viewers for specific events, from selected national-team matches to every match of a tournament.

For the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, the ICC announced that Team USA's matches would be free to viewers in the United States and Canada through Willow's official YouTube channel. Willow's broadcast arrangement covered the whole tournament, and the free offer applied to Team USA's games.

For the 2026 ICC Women's T20 World Cup, the ICC broadcasting announcement set a different deal: all matches free in the United States and Canada on Willow Sports across major FAST platforms. The 12-team competition ran from June 12 to July 5, 2026.

A future competition needs its own official free-to-air, YouTube or FAST announcement naming the United States and the fixture. Read it closely when a service offers free highlights but charges for the live game.

ICC.tv adds a territorial split. When an ICC event gives US rights to a named broadcaster, an ICC.tv offer described for “the rest of the world” covers only the remaining territories. The US allocation comes from that event's own broadcasting notice.

Live at 4 a.m., full replay, or highlights: choose the right way to watch

For an American fan following a match overseas, the start time can matter as much as the subscription. Convert the fixture's time to your own US time zone, then choose live viewing or a replay. Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific viewers can face very different hours for the same overseas start.

• Full-match replay: The complete game after it ends, when the service keeps that recording.
• Condensed replay: An edited match with more context than a brief highlight sequence.
• Highlights: Selected moments, quick to catch up on but shorter than a complete match.

If live viewing is impractical, look for an explicitly listed full replay or recording.

In 2023, a US cricket fan described how evening Major League Cricket games fit after work, unlike early-morning international fixtures:

Fubo's 2026 cricket guidance described recording a listed event with Cloud DVR. TrillerTV's Willow subscription documentation described recent replays and highlights, without saying that every completed match is kept as a full recording or for how long. A DVR recording and a broadcaster's replay archive are two ways to catch up, and each depends on what content is available.

What about simultaneous matches, devices, and logins?

Two matches airing at once and two people streaming on different screens are different problems. The first depends on which live events the broadcaster carries and which channels show them. The second depends on how many devices the account allows.

A viewer shopping for an international-cricket subscription ran into exactly that problem in December 2024:

Before you count on overlapping games, check the provider's event list for both fixtures and for a second selectable live channel. Extra household screens do not add match rights.

Fubo's March 2026 guidance gave this route: Sports > Cricket, then choose the date and filter by league.

Logins are a separate hurdle. For an eligible active Willow subscriber in the United States or Canada, Cricbuzz instructs users to sign in with the same email used for Willow and approve subscription synchronization when prompted. If access stays inactive, its FAQ recommends signing out and back in. A television-provider subscription or app is not covered by this. It uses that provider's own login route and device terms.

What if the game is missing even though you have the subscription?

A missing match can come from rights, schedule placement, premium-channel access, territory or login. Each has its own fix.

One US viewer looking for an India versus South Africa women's T20 match found other cricket in the Willow schedule:

If a match was advertised for your channel but won't open, send official support the competition, teams, scheduled start time, country, device, package and the listing you see in your account.

If no legal live video is confirmed, what can you still follow?

The official scorecard still lets you follow play.