Bridgewater, NJ -- NEC football is gearing up for its annual splash on the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

The NEC and ESPN will team up for a 15th-straight season in 2026, with four games set to air on ESPN+.

The NEC will also maintain a strong regional television presence on the gridron this fall, with two of the four ESPN+ matchups simulcast on partners throughout the league's footprint.

And there’s more to come. The NEC will announce a comprehensive FAST channel football package in the near future, providing fans with even more ways to follow the conference throughout the 2026 season.

Fans will not have to wait long for NEC football to hit the airwaves, as a Week One matchup between longtime rivals Robert Morris and Wagner on Saturday, August 29 on Grymes Hill kicks off the conference package. The ESPN+ exclusive is set for a noon start.

Coming off their most fruitful league slate — and the program’s highest finish in the league standings — since 2016 after tying LIU and Mercyhurst for third place with a 4-3 mark, the Seahawks look to parlay that success into their first conference title since 2014. The Colonials, who have gone 6-7 in league play since reuniting with the NEC for the 2024 campaign, return to the gridiron hoping to end a 16-year title drought in the Steel City.

The opening weekend matchup between the Robert Morris and Wagner marks the first time ever that an NEC game will be played in August, and it will be just the second time in league history that conference play kicks off on the first day of the season. Prior to 2026, the earliest game between two NEC foes took place on September 3, 2011, when Wagner hosted Saint Francis.

The month of October commences with a highly anticipated matchup in Brookville on Saturday, October 3 between Mercyhurst and LIU, two squads that were in the conversation for the NEC regular season title headed down the final stretch of the 2025 campaign. The game will air exclusively on ESPN+ at high noon.

The Lakers made a splash last year in a season that featured the program’s first-ever complete NEC slate, going 4-3 with wins over LIU, Wagner, Saint Francis and Robert Morris. Behind a late season push that featured victories in each of their final three outings, the Sharks finished with a 4-3 mark against conference competitors for the second-straight year for the program’s third winning season against league squads since 2022.

Four weeks later, the NEC has a Halloween treat in store when perennial title contender Duquesne visits New Haven for the first time in program history on Saturday, October 31 at noon. The matchup also marks the conference TV crew’s first-ever football production from the iconic blue turf of Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium in West Haven. The game will receive wall-to-wall coverage, airing live on ESPN+, YES Network, SportsNet Pittsburgh and NESN Nation, followed by a same-day airing on NESN+ at 7:00 pm.

For the second time in as many years, the Dukes were knocking on the doorstep of hanging the program’s eighth NEC regular season championship banner in the rafters with a 5-2 mark against league foes. The Chargers, who went 5-5 — highlighted by wins over UAlbany and Sacred Heart — in their inaugural Division I campaign a year ago, are set to play a full NEC slate for the first time in program history in 2026.

The package finale is set for Saturday, November 7, when Stonehill hosts two-time defending league champion and preseason favorite Central Connecticut at 1:00 pm as part of the Skyhawks’ Homecoming festivities. The matchup will air across four platforms, with live coverage on ESPN+, YES Network, NESN and NESN Nation.

The Skyhawks ended the 2025 campaign on a high note, scoring a 20-10 win over visiting Saint Francis while the Blue Devils, who have combined to go 11-2 against conference competitors during their two-year title run, look to become the first NEC team to pull off a three-peat since Robert Morris turned the trick with five consecutive league crowns from 1996 to 2000. 

Veteran play-by-play voice Paul Dottino and two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Kevin Gilbride return as the NEC’s lead broadcast duo with production being handled by Linacre Media and Pack Network.

2026 NEC Football: ESPN+ & RSN Schedule
Aug. 29 - Robert Morris at Wagner - 12 pm - ESPN+ exclusive
Oct. 3 - Mercyhurst at LIU - 12 pm - ESPN+ exclusive
Oct. 31 - Duquesne at New Haven - 12 pm - Live: ESPN+, YES, SportsNet Pittsburgh, NESN Nation / Tape Delay: NESN+ at 7 pm
Nov. 7 - CCSU at Stonehill - 1 pm - ESPN+, YES, NESN, NESN Nation
 
About the NEC

Now in its 46th season, the NEC is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#9). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#88). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 17 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, New Haven, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.necsports.com) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.