Streaming news roundup: World Cup knockouts and free Fourth of July baseball headline the weekend

This holiday weekend is loaded and a lot of it is free — the World Cup knockout rounds and a full day of July 4 baseball both have real no-cost options — plus a handy new way to buy Peacock straight from YouTube. And the offseason RSN shuffle still isn't settled for several teams heading into next season.

The gist: This holiday weekend is loaded, and a lot of it is free. The World Cup knockout rounds and a full day of July 4 baseball both have real no-cost options, and there's one handy new way to buy Peacock. (Separately, we dug into the bigger rights shakeup reshaping what sports cost down the line — the NFL reopening its TV deals, plus a federal probe into sports affordability — in its own post. The short version: none of it changes what you watch this weekend.)

The World Cup is in the knockout rounds — the free options are real

The 2026 World Cup is deep into single-elimination play (Round of 32 this weekend, Round of 16 to follow), and the U.S. men advanced and drew Belgium in the Round of 16. The quick version of how to watch: English coverage is on FOX (free over the air with an antenna, depending on your market) and FS1 (cable-only); Spanish is on Telemundo (also free over the air in many markets) and streams on Peacock; and FOX One ($19.99/month) or YouTube TV carry the full set of channels if you'd rather stream. Full breakdown — every match, what's free, and the one subscription that covers it all — is in our World Cup guide.

Bottom line: an antenna (FOX + Telemundo) covers a big chunk of the knockout slate for $0 in most markets; to guarantee every English-language match you need something with FS1.

Star-Spangled Sunday: every MLB game is on NBC and Peacock on July 5

The headline baseball event of the weekend is Sunday, when all of July 5's MLB games air exclusively on NBC and Peacock as "Star-Spangled Sunday." Keep in mind these are still subject to local blackout rules — your home team's game may only reach you through your normal in-market channel. It's the most visible sign of a bigger 2026 change: baseball returned to NBC/Peacock this season, and Sunday Night Baseball moved there from ESPN, so a night of baseball that used to point you to ESPN now points you to Peacock.

New this week: Peacock is now buyable straight from YouTube

Starting June 29, you can subscribe to Peacock Premium Plus ($16.99/month) directly through YouTube Primetime Channels — watch it inside the YouTube app without a separate Peacock login, and without needing YouTube TV. For sports fans that means Peacock's slate (Spanish-language World Cup coverage now, Sunday Night Football and MLB later) sits alongside other services you may already buy there, like NFL Sunday Ticket, HBO Max, and FOX One. The price is the same as buying direct; the cheaper ad-supported Peacock tier isn't offered through YouTube yet. It's a convenience move — one app, one bill — and part of a broader NBCUniversal–Google deal that also kept NBC's channels on YouTube TV.

Around the markets: the offseason RSN shuffle still isn't settled

The wind-down of FanDuel Sports Network (and parent Main Street Sports Group) is finishing before the 2026-27 NHL and NBA seasons, and several teams' local homes for next season still aren't locked. Locally, that includes the St. Louis Blues, who were on FanDuel Sports Network Midwest — there's no confirmed 2026-27 local home to point to yet, so treat any online speculation as unconfirmed until a team or network announces it. The pattern to watch: some teams are launching their own networks or moving to over-the-air stations (as the Phoenix Suns did). If your NHL or NBA team was on a FanDuel RSN, expect its "where to watch" answer to change — don't renew a package on last year's assumption.

Not sure how any of this changes your setup? StreamCaddy maps the cheapest correct way to watch your teams for your exact ZIP and subscriptions — including which of this weekend's games you can get for free.

Sources

1. Yahoo Sports — "2026 World Cup: How to watch all of today's games, Friday, July 3" (FOX/FS1 English, Telemundo/Peacock Spanish, FOX One $19.99/mo, YouTube TV), July 3, 2026 — https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/article/2026-world-cup-how-to-watch-all-of-todays-games-friday-july-3-match-schedule-free-streaming-info-and-more-100500954.html
2. NBC Sports / NBC Insider — "How to watch Star-Spangled Sunday on NBC, Peacock" (all July 5 MLB games exclusively on NBC and Peacock; local blackout rules apply), June 30, 2026 — https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/sunday-night-baseball-full-2026-schedule-for-mlb-games-on-nbc-peacock
3. Variety — "NBCU's Peacock Limited-Ads Tier Launches on YouTube Primetime Channels" (Premium Plus $16.99/mo via YouTube Primetime Channels; part of the NBCUniversal–Google deal), June 29, 2026 — https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/peacock-available-on-youtube-primetime-channels-1236795905/
4. DIRECTV Insider — "Local Sports Broadcast Channels: RSNs" (FanDuel Sports Network wind-down before the 2026-27 NHL/NBA seasons; teams still finalizing local homes), May 2026 — https://www.directv.com/insider/rsn-channels/