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I won’t watch much preseason NFL football action, but I’m still excited all the NFL training camps were in full swing this week.
Most of my preseason focus will be arguably one of the top three reality TV shows of all time that started it all by featuring the Super Bowl Champs from the 2000 season, the Baltimore Ravens.
The line in the “Hard Knock Life” song in the musical Annie, and later converted to a rap by Jay-Z, “…’stead of treated, we get tricked…” will feel more like just getting… treated when the series launches its first of five episodes Tuesday, August 11 at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on HBO and HBO Max.
The series will conclude Tuesday, September 8.
For the first time since the inaugural season, HBO teams up with NFL Films to present Hard Knocks. The five-episode series will feature the training camp of the Super Bowl champs, the Seattle Seahawks.
Hard Knocks has been built around familiar themes: roster battles, rookie adjustments, and teams trying to climb back into contention after the aforementioned inaugural showcased the Ravens.
Those storylines for, almost all of the seasons following the featured Super Bowl champion Ravens, featured teams struggling the way the Cleveland Browns (following their winless 2017 season), and the Los Angeles Rams led then by head coach Jeff Fischer in their first training camp returning to L.A. can be entertaining, but the 2026 edition has the potential to offer something far more compelling. This year is less about rebuilding a brand and more about handling the pressure that comes with the highest levels of success.
Viewers accustomed to HBO and NFL Films’ focus on a rebuilding organization will get an inside look at the Seahawks preparing for a season where they’ll defend their NFL title.
This shift creates a different type of story. Fans will see how head coach Mike Macdonald and his staff prepare a championship roster while managing heightened expectations from players, fans, and the media. They'll also see how a team responds when every opponent views the defending champion as its biggest game of the season.
Will NFL Films and HBO transition from featuring the defending Super Bowl champions to featuring on a higher caliber team relevant to the broader Super Bowl narrative?
I certainly hope so. This would draw me to watch the in-season version of my favorite reality TV show for the very first time.
HBO and NFL Films have not yet announced the subject of the 2026 in-season series, recent editions have expanded beyond a single team and focused on entire divisions. The New England Patriots are already locked in as the assigned preseason training camp for the series in 2027.
I would have enjoyed – even more – a Bill Belichick era Patriots side in a Hard Knocks series. However, the NFL leaned heavily toward rebuilding or previously disappointing seasons among its featured teams. Following a Super Bowl contender in-season, however, would allow viewers to follow both sides of the league's biggest storyline throughout the season.
The appeal of this year's Hard Knocks is its featured team’s higher-than-usual stakes. Instead of asking whether a team can make the playoffs, the bar is set higher asking more challenging questions for the series’ viewers.
The defending champs are eager to demonstrate the ability to handle the burden of the highest expectations. Seattle’s rivals, however, especially in the very tough NFC West division, will spend their summer training camps striving to close the gap.
If Hard Knocks continues to capture as much of the essence of preseason training camp as well as they’ve done throughout its long run, the 2026 preseason promises to become one of the most memorable seasons in the series' history.
I’m looking forward to being (just) treated by HBO and NFL Films.
