In December of last year, United States President Donald Trump announced the first-ever “Patriot Games” as another arm in the year-long celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
“In the fall, we will host the first-ever ‘Patriot Games,’ an unprecedented 4-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state and territory,” Trump announced in an address from the Oval Office.
After the announcement, the Patriot Games, which will feature high school students ages 14 to 17 competing in military-inspired challenges similar to boot camp circuits and other tests of strength and agility, faced heavy criticism for being a “real-life Hunger Games.”
Nonetheless, the event is moving forward.
The 2026 Patriot Games, for which Freedom 250 is the organizer, will stream on the ESPN app for three days beginning Sunday, August 9, before wrapping up with an hour-long ESPN on ABC primetime special on Thursday, August 13, at 9 p.m. ET.
Per ESPN Press Room, the Patriot Games, which are being held at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio, “will bring together exceptional young athletes ages 14–17 from across the United States, territories, and tribal nations to compete in a series of challenges designed to test strength, endurance, agility, teamwork, and perseverance. Winners will compete for a share of the $250,000 prize pool, providing transformative educational opportunities and helping them pursue their future goals.”
The athletes “will be tested on the skills from the Presidential Fitness Test, go through a military-inspired boot camp circuit, and finalists will compete in an obstacle course designed to test strategy and skill.”
Laura Rutledge, Matt Barrie, Beth Mowins and Tom Hart will anchor ESPN’s live coverage, while Jordan Rodgers, Sean Farnham, Ron Slay and Danielle Lawrie will serve as analysts. Brooke Weisbrod and Marion Crowder, and Rutledge and Barrie also will co-host the closing primetime special.