Roku Introduces New Sports ‘Experience’ to Stream on Game Day

Roku is improving accessibility for sports fans. The company’s new streaming interface, dubbed “a sports experience,” acts as a one-stop shop for live sports programming, allowing users to track events without switching between multiple apps, reported Deadline. There have been an unprecedented number of streaming exclusives this year, from NFL Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video to MLB on Apple and Peacock to a variety of ESPN+ games, including NHL and college football. In addition, Netflix is quietly exploring the possibility of adding live sports content. 

Roku’s director of live & sports, Alex Hill, wrote in a blog post that the new content consists of pro and college football, basketball, hockey, baseball, and soccer. A selection of streaming providers includes DirecTV, Fox Sports, FuboTV, Paramount+, Peacock, Prime Video, Sling, The Roku Channel, TNT, TBS and truTV, along with over-the-air broadcasts via an antenna connection to Roku smart TVs. According to Hill, several “more sports and viewing options” are planned in the coming months. “We know that keeping track of where sports are being streamed has only become more fragmented over the past few years,” Hill said. “Watching your favorite teams should be simple, so we’ve made it a priority to build out a more seamless and streamlined way to discover and watch sports on our platform. Sports are a vital part of the streaming experience, and we will continue to make enhancements to that experience, like adding more supported providers and finding new ways for our users to follow their favorite teams.”

Roku is adding sports directly to the homescreen pic.twitter.com/SuyIezZAcs

— Cozy Tech Talk (@CozyTechTalk) November 10, 2022

As previously mentioned, Netflix is considering several sports leagues and events for acquisition, according to Deadline. The company is exploring streaming World Surf League and several tennis tours, but deals still need to be finalized. “Sports is the baseline now, we all know it, and finding the right properties, the right leagues is a priority, but it is always a question of the right league, the right deal,” a Netflix insider told Deadline. In the meantime, NFL Sunday Ticket is seeking to expand to a streaming service. While Netflix could bid on the package, other streaming services will also pay a lot to include all of Sunday’s games. Acquiring NFL games for the platform would be a major accomplishment. There are 73.4 million subscribers to the streaming service, which makes it a desirable option for the NFL. Aside from Prime Video, NFL games are available on Paramount+, Peacock, and ESPN+. On Paramount+ and Peacock, viewers can watch games that aired on CBS and NBC.