Roku announced Wednesday that it will be launching a free, ad-supported 24/7 sports channel on its platform that will be accessible across both its devices and apps, as well as through its website.
The new Roku Sports Channel will officially launch on August 12 and promises to deliver “top-tier” sports content, including both live events and original productions, delivered in a “dedicated, one-click, lean-back experience for sports fans.” The channel will pull content from Roku’s existing catalog of owned and licensed shows. Those include live Major League Baseball games, specifically the MLB Sunday Leadoff live games which the company gained the exclusive multi-year rights to in May, as well as live Fornula E races, The Rich Eisen Show, GMFB: Overtime.
As for original content, Roku Sports Channel will offer programming like NFL Draft: The Pick Is In, WWE: Next Gen, Fight Inc: Inside the UFC, and more. The channel will also carry live G-League games (the NBA’s developmental league), once the season starts up again in early November, as well as exclusive partner content, such as classic boxing from Top Rank, combat sports coverage from Swerve Sports, and “high-stakes poker entertainment” from PokerGO.
“A curated always-on channel that leads our viewer through the wide variety of premium sports content available for free on The Roku Channel, Roku Sports Channel is an exciting addition to our expanding sports offering,” Joe Franzetta, Head of Sports at Roku Media, said in a press statement.
The Roku Sports Channel will have competition for its viewers. Many of these programs (aside from Sunday Leadoff) are also available on other free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels such as Freevee, Pluto TV, Tubi, Fubo, or Plex. Additionally, ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery announced recently that they are forming a joint venture to launch a 24/7 streaming platform of their own, called Venu, though that service will come with a $43 montly subscription.
If you want to take a look for yourself, the Roku Sports Channel is free to watch, without a subscription or even sign-up required. You will need either a Roku device or Roku-enabled TV (such as Amazon Fire TVs, Samsung TVs and Google TVs), the Roku app on an Android or iOS device, or just the Roku Channel website.
Source: Roku
