The reigning Super Bowl champions are opening their doors. The Seattle Seahawks are the featured team for Hard Knocks 2026, HBO and NFL Films’ all-access training camp series. The five-episode season premieres Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max, with new episodes on the following Tuesdays through the finale on September 8 — the night before Seattle opens its title defense at home on September 9.
It’s a landmark pick. This is the first time since the series launched with the 2001 Baltimore Ravens that Hard Knocks has followed the defending Super Bowl champion, and it’s the Seahawks’ first appearance, period. Cameras will be at training camp in Renton, Washington, following head coach Mike Macdonald, quarterback Sam Darnold, 2025 AP Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and defensive stars Devon Witherspoon and Byron Murphy II. Liev Schreiber narrates, as he has for most of the series’ run.
Seattle earned the spotlight the hard way: a 29-13 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LX capped the 2025 season, and Macdonald’s team now chases the first back-to-back titles since the Chiefs in 2023-24. New England, the runner-up, gets its own turn — the Patriots were announced as the Hard Knocks team for 2027.
NFL Training Camp
Hard Knocks 2026: Schedule & Every Team Since 2001
The Seahawks’ episode calendar, the all-time team list and the series records
Aug 112026 Premiere
5Episodes
SEAFeatured Team
2001First Season
Hard Knocks 2026 Episode Schedule
All episodes air at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and stream on HBO Max.
| Episode |
Air Date |
Notes |
| 1 |
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026 |
Series premiere — 9 p.m. ET/PT, HBO & HBO Max |
| 2 |
Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026 |
|
| 3 |
Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026 |
|
| 4 |
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 |
|
| 5 |
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026 |
Season finale — night before the Seahawks’ Sept. 9 opener |
Every Hard Knocks Training Camp Team, 2001–2026
Newest first. Training camp editions only; the series was not produced from 2003–2006 or in 2011.
| Year |
Team |
Notes |
| 2027 |
New England Patriots |
Announced — first appearance |
| 2026 |
Seattle Seahawks |
First appearance; first reigning champ featured since 2001 |
| 2025 |
Buffalo Bills |
First appearance |
| 2024 |
Chicago Bears |
Caleb Williams’ rookie camp |
| 2023 |
New York Jets |
2nd appearance; Aaron Rodgers’ arrival |
| 2022 |
Detroit Lions |
First appearance |
| 2021 |
Dallas Cowboys |
3rd appearance — series record |
| 2020 |
Rams & Chargers |
Only two-team edition (both LA camps) |
| 2019 |
Oakland Raiders |
Final season in Oakland |
| 2018 |
Cleveland Browns |
|
| 2017 |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
|
| 2016 |
Los Angeles Rams |
First camp back in LA |
| 2015 |
Houston Texans |
|
| 2014 |
Atlanta Falcons |
|
| 2013 |
Cincinnati Bengals |
2nd appearance |
| 2012 |
Miami Dolphins |
|
| 2011 |
— |
Not produced — lockout |
| 2010 |
New York Jets |
Rex Ryan’s breakout season |
| 2009 |
Cincinnati Bengals |
|
| 2008 |
Dallas Cowboys |
2nd appearance |
| 2007 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
Series returns after hiatus |
| 2003–06 |
— |
Not produced — series hiatus |
| 2002 |
Dallas Cowboys |
|
| 2001 |
Baltimore Ravens |
Inaugural season — defending Super Bowl champs |
Hard Knocks Series Records
| Record |
Holder |
Detail |
| Most appearances |
Cowboys |
3 — 2002, 2008 and 2021 |
| Two-time teams |
Bengals, Jets, Rams |
2009/2013, 2010/2023, 2016/2020 |
| First featured team |
Ravens |
2001 — also the defending Super Bowl champions |
| Only dual-team season |
Rams & Chargers |
2020 |
| Seasons not produced |
Five |
2003–2006 hiatus and the 2011 lockout |
| Narrator |
Liev Schreiber |
The voice of the series |
| Sports Emmys |
19 |
Most-decorated NFL training camp series |
| Next up |
Patriots |
Announced as the 2027 training camp team |
Champs on Camera
The 2001 Ravens were defending champions when the series debuted, but no reigning Super Bowl winner had agreed to it since — a 25-year gap the Seahawks just ended.
The Franchise Has Spinoffs
Training camp is the original, but Hard Knocks now runs in-season editions (Colts 2021, Cardinals 2022, Dolphins 2023, the AFC North in 2024) and an offseason edition that debuted with the 2024 Giants.
Teams Can Be Drafted
Clubs can decline Hard Knocks only if they have a first-year head coach, made the playoffs in the past two seasons, or appeared on the show in the past ten years. Seattle qualified for an exemption — and volunteered anyway.
Why the Champs Said Yes
Teams have historically treated Hard Knocks as a distraction to be dodged, which is what makes Seattle’s choice notable. The franchise gets a five-week national showcase of a roster built to repeat — and a new ownership era eager to raise the team’s profile — while HBO gets its most compelling subject in years: a champion’s camp, where the storyline isn’t bubble players fighting for jobs so much as a locker room handling the weight of a title. Expect heavy screen time for the September 9 opener buildup, since the finale airs the night before Seattle raises its banner.
The Bottom Line
Hard Knocks 2026 follows the Seattle Seahawks — the first defending Super Bowl champion featured since the series’ inaugural 2001 season — for five episodes starting Tuesday, August 11 on HBO and HBO Max, ending September 8. It’s appointment viewing for the start of the NFL calendar, right alongside the Hall of Fame Game on August 6 that kicks off the preseason five days earlier.
