The CW Teams With ESPN & Roku In Streaming Partnerships Unveiled During Upfront Push

The CW has set novel streaming partnerships with ESPN and Roku, expanding its programming footprint in exchange for access to entertainment fare and live sports.

Under the deals, the broadcast network will make its 800 hours of annual sports programming available on ESPN’s app and also put its entertainment titles on the Roku Channel the day after linear premiere. The free, ad-supported CW app, long a key strategic pillar for the broadcast network, will continue to offer next-day streams of entertainment titles as they simultaneously roll out across the Roku Channel.

The announcements were made Wednesday as The CW got set to deliver its upfront presentation to advertisers.

Nexstar Media Group acquired 75% of The CW in 2022, a majority stake that has recently grown to 81%. Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery share the remaining minority portion. With the ownership change has come a concerted shift away from the young-skewing hour-long dramas that once defined the network and toward a range of live sports. One element of the transformation has been the upfront. While the former CBS-Warner joint venture used to line up alongside its competitors and deliver a full-on theatrical event (often featuring A-list musical talent), The CW now opts for smaller-scale pitches buyers but not press.

The ESPN team-up stemmed from the fact that live sports programming is a new part of The CW’s mix, but has grown to be a foundational piece of its value proposition. The roster of rights accumulated in just the past three years includes college football and men’s and women’s basketball from the ACC, Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences; the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, WWE NXT, PBA Bowling, PBR Bull Riding and AVP volleyball.

Live sports has not been included in the next-day CW app streams, leaving a key audience segment unaddressed. Unlike larger broadcast peers like Paramount, NBCUniversal or Disney, there is no in-house streaming outlet to amplify the CW’s reach. “That led to a decision to partner with someone who is synonymous with sports,” CW President Brad Schwartz said. “CBS has Paramount+, NBC has Peacock, et cetera. Having a streaming solution is just table stakes these days. What we realized very quickly is that the world does not need another direct-to-consumer product. We don’t need to start charging people for yet another product. … So, strategically, we knew the path was to find a partner.”

Terms of the deals were not disclosed, but principals described them as versions of a classic revenue-sharing arrangement, with additional provisions for promotion. On both ESPN and Roku, programming will be organized in a hub or network feed for those who want to seek it out under the CW name; individual titles will also be served via algorithm and curation to suit viewers looking for a particular genre or sport.

The ESPN App, which launched in August 2025 as a comprehensive offering with linear network feeds and ESPN+ programming, has since added MLB.tv and other third-party elements. In interviews with Deadline, ESPN and CW execs said the primary goal is to add reach to the ESPN app while also bringing the 800 annual hours of CW sports content into a purebred environment.

“It’s an opportunity to expand the range of live sports and provide more value to our subscribers,” Emily Horowitz, VP of ESPN DTC Business & Strategy, said in an interview.

The Roku pact, which starts this fall, is also an effort to widen the aperture.

“For us now it’s, how do we make the front door bigger?” Schwartz said. “How do we get all this content that we put online, how do we put it in front of even more people?”

The Roku Channel routinely ranks among the top-viewed free streaming platforms according to Nielsen. Roku recently announced that it now reaches 100 million global households, with the nearly decade-old Roku Channel directly benefiting from its parent’s steady increase in scale.

Along with new series like Private Eyes West Coast, unscripted breakout Police 24/7 and original game shows Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit, new episodes of WWE NXT will appear on the Roku Channel on the day after linear premiere.

“The CW’s lineup is packed with bold, binge-worthy programming – from the intrigue of Sherlock & Daughter to the competition of ‘WWE NXT’ to the long-running magic series Penn & Teller: Fool Us” said Lisa Holme, Head of Content, Roku Media. “This partnership is all about connecting great storytelling with the millions of viewers who are looking for it.”

The agreement will also make 800 hours of CW library programming available on the Roku Channel.