Watch The Basketball Tournament 2025 from start to finish
Watch The Basketball Tournament 2025 from start to finish
The open-invitation tournament will see 61 teams competing for a $1 million prize.
It’s already time for the 2025 edition of The Basketball Tournament to begin! TBT 2025 starts on Friday, July 18 at 1 p.m. ET, and continues through Sunday, Aug. 3, when the championship game will be played. Games air on Fox, FS1, and [FS2][Fox Sports 2], and with that being the case, we think the most logical way to watch The Basketball Tournament 2025 is with a subscription to DIRECTV.
How to watch The Basketball Tournament 2025
- When: Starts Friday, July 18 at 1 p.m. ET
- TV: Fox, FS1, [FS2][Fox Sports 2]
- Stream: Watch with a subscription to DIRECTV.
- From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.
Everything you need to know about The Basketball Tournament 2025
What is the schedule of The Basketball Tournament 2025 games?
See when each round of The Basketball Tournament 2025 begins in the table below. For a complete bracket, click here.
| Date | Time (ET) | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, July 18 | 1 p.m. | Round of 64 |
| Sunday, July 20 | 12:30 p.m. | Round of 32 |
| Tuesday, July 22 | 6 p.m. | Round of 16 |
| Sunday, July 27 | 7 p.m. | Quarterfinals |
| Thursday, July 31 | 6 p.m. | Semifinals |
| Sunday, Aug. 3 | 4 p.m. | Championship |
Why do we recommend watching The Basketball Tournament 2025 on DIRECTV?
We love DIRECTV for watching The Basketball Tournament this year for a few reasons. First, you can watch Fox, FS1, and FS2 with the MySports Genre pack, which costs just $70 per year and comes with more than 20 sports-related channels, including the ESPN family of networks and ESPN+ subscriptions free as well.
This is one of the cheapest ways to watch Fox, FS1, and FS2 all in one place, and it even comes with a five-day free trial. That means you’ll be able to watch a large portion of The Basketball Tournament at no cost if you’re a new customer to DIRECTV.
The service will offer even more college and pro basketball when the fall arrives, as well as NFL and college football, and a lot more. These are just the top reasons to watch The Basketball Tournament on DIRECTV, and we’re proud to recommend it for that purpose.
DIRECTV
DIRECTV is one of The Streamable’s top choices for the best live TV streaming service overall in 2026, especially for users who want the most channels or want to watch the most live sports. With an unbeatable lineup of local, news, sports, and entertainment channels, three main signature packages, an unlimited DVR, and 20 simultaneous streams at home, DIRECTV remains a premier choice for any cord-cutter.
Can you watch The Basketball Tournament 2025 for free?
There’s no service that will allow you to watch the entire TBT 2025 event for free, but there are several that offer Fox, FS1, and FS2 and come with free trials.
Fubo comes with a trial that can last between one day and seven, depending on variables such as what time of month a new user subscribes. Once that trial ends, the service costs $85 per month — not including RSN fees.
Hulu + Live TV offers a standardized three-day free trial for all new customers. Once the trial ends, Hulu + Live TV costs $83 per month or more for all plans, including the Disney Bundle.
Finally, YouTube TV has a trial that, like Fubo’s, can vary in length. It costs $83 per month after a trial between two days and two weeks.
What are all the services you can use to watch The Basketball Tournament 2025?
You can stream The Basketball Tournament on DIRECTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV, all of which offer free trials.
Sling TV carries Fox in a small number of markets, and FS1 everywhere in its Blue channel package. You will have to get the Sling Sports Extra add-on to watch FS2, however. Sling plans start at $46 per month.
| DIRECTV | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube TV | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Free Trial | Save with Sling | Free Trial | |||||
| $20.99 | $9.99 | $28.99 | $25 | $19.99 | $29.99 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $64.99 | ||
| Fox | + $19 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| FS1 | + $24 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| FS2 | + $15 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | - | - | + $11 | ✓ | |
About The Basketball Tournament 2025
In 2025, 61 teams are scheduled to play in The Basketball Tournament, which has had as many as 97 teams in the past. Teams will play in eight regions around the United States, and the first region to sell 4,000 tickets will earn home-court advantage throughout the length of the tournament.
The Basketball Tournament is single-elimination and includes a winner-take-all prize of $1 million. It’s well known for what’s called the Elam Ending, a format in which the clock is turned off at the first dead-ball whistle that occurs with four minutes to play or less. A target score equal to the score of the leading team (or tied teams) plus eight is set, and the first team to hit this target score wins the game. This means each game ends with a made basket, with no overtime.
How to watch The Basketball Tournament 2025 from anywhere
If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch The Basketball Tournament 2025 as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action no matter where you are in the world with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home — even when you’re not — making sure you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Keep in mind that you will still need to be subscribed to a live TV streaming service like DIRECTV in order to stream the tournament with a VPN.
NordVPN is one of the best providers around, at one of the best prices. Currently, you can get two full years of protection for just $3.59 per month — plus you’ll get three extra months FREE. A high-speed VPN with best-in-class security that can be used on up to 10 devices at once — what more could you ask for? Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!
While NordVPN is our recommendation for the best VPN to use while you are traveling, there are a number of other high-quality options available depending on what you are looking for.
- Best Features: ExpressVPN | Starting at $5 per month
- Best Budget Option: Surfshark | Starting at $2.50 per month
- Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available