One of Roku's best-kept secrets is the surprising number of sports options it offers its users.
In a press release, Roku announced the new Roku Sports channel, which will combine all of Roku's free sports content in a curated, always-on channel that launches on August 12.
Roku has a seemingly random assortment of sports deals that include a small number of MLB games, The Rich Eisen Show and races from the Formula E electric car racing league.
“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,” said Joe Franzetta, Head of Sports, Roku Media in a press release. “We continue to see audiences enjoy the familiar, lean-back experience FAST offers, especially with sports. Sports is one of our most popular channel genres on The Roku Channel, which makes us so excited to make it even easier for audiences to jump into Roku’s standout programming.”
Now, the Sports Channel won't have much in the way of the big four outside of a handful of MLB games. And it sounds like the new channel won't include content from the NBA channel that Roku created in April. That channel will remain separate. Roku also created an MLB Zone channel when they signed their multi-year deal with the baseball league, but it's unclear if that will go away with this new channel or remain as a separate feed.
For those of us who are NBA sickos, Roku Sports Channel will feature NBA G League games and Roku originals like documentaries about UFC and the WWE.
The Roku Sports Channel is only available in the United States, but it will work on any Roku streaming device or Roku TV. It does not require a new or additional subscription.
As a reminder, Roku Channels are ad-supported and kind of act like always-on cable channels or over-the-air channels that you're familiar with. But hey, at least it's not as expansive as whatever Disney, Fox and Warner Bros are doing with Venu Sports.
