It's almost here. The pinnacle moment of New Year's Eve, Ball Drop 2025, is coming, and Megan Thee Stallion is one of the star performers as over a million spectators take to Times Square in New York City to watch the ball drop.

Here's how to watch Ball Drop 2025 online from anywhere using a VPN.

The famous Time Ball is traditionally raised to the top of the flagpole at One Times Square at 6 p.m. ET on New Year's Eve, stays there for six hours, and drops down for 60 seconds at exactly 11:59 p.m. ET, accompanied by a light show and tons of confetti.

The ball drop has become a central event on NYE; “Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve” with ABC's Ryan Seacrest (and Rita Ora) remains the default choice of TV viewers and the most popular alternative program is “New Year's Eve Live” with CNN's Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.

Both TV shows incorporate a 60-second countdown and capture the atmosphere of Times Square.

Ball Drop 2025 is available for free live streaming on TimesSquareNYC.org, TimesSquareBall.net, and the relevant social media pages on each website.

Live streams with open captioning and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation are also available on YouTube.

Both of these streams are commercial-free and begin at 6:00 pm ET/3:00 pm CST and end six and a half hours later at 12:30 am ET/9:30 pm CST.

Central American Friendship Association (6:06pm-6:18pm ET), AGNEW (8:03pm-8:08pm ET), Triad Brass (8:37pm-8:55pm ET), Flow Rida (9:10pm-9:29pm ET), Paul Anka ( 11:51-11:58 p.m. ET), and many other performances.

However, the headline performance by Megan Thee Stallion (7:05-7:17 p.m. ET) will not appear on any of these free feeds. For the complete experience, consider Sling TV. Information is as follows.

Thanks to a VPN (Virtual Private Network), you can watch the usual Ball Drop 2025 live stream wherever you are. With this software, no matter where you are in the world, your device will appear as if you are in your home country. Our favorite is NordVPN.

As detailed above, there are many ways to watch Ball Drop 2025 for free. However, if you want a more colorful view of New Year's Eve, ABC's “Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve” with Ryan Seacrest and Rita Ora and CNN's “New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen” will both feature the Times Square ball drop. Both shows begin at 8:00 PM ET. The full lineup is at the bottom of this page.

If you have the best TV antenna or a cable plan that allows you to watch ABC or CNN, you're all set.

Alternatively, ABC and CNN are among the channel lineups of our picks for best streaming services. These services include Sling TV, which offers ABC in some cities. Other options include Fubo, YouTube TV, and Hulu with Live TV (3-day free trial).

Sling TV is one of the most affordable cable alternatives, starting at $45.99 per month, with the first month half off. Note, however, that ABC is only available on Sling Blue in select markets.

Fubo is another alternative. It is more expensive, but it offers all major networks, including ABC, and a 7-day free trial, so there is no need to pay upfront. Prices usually start at $79.99 per month, but you may be able to get $35 off your first month as soon as possible.

(all times ET)

6:06-6:18 p.m. - Central American Friendship Association7:05-7:17 p.m. - Megan Thee Stallion Performance (not available for free) 8:03-8:08 p.m. - AGNEW8:37-8:55 p.m. Triad Brass9:10-9:29 p.m. - Flo Rida11:51-11:58 p.m. - Paul Anka

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