Roku Launches Free Sports Channel with MLB, Formula E, and More

Roku will launch a free, ad-supported premier sports channel on August 12. The Roku Sports Channel promises to bring together all sports content that is owned or licensed by Roku under one FAST service umbrella. It will feature live games from Major League Baseball through The Rich Eisen Show, live Formula E racing, Top Rank boxing, MLB Sunday Leadoff, and Roku Originals that are sports-themed produced in association with big professional sports leagues.

As major streaming services increase their investment in sports rights, so has FAST channel inventory offering top-tier sports content. Entertainment streamers, like Pluto TV, Tubi, and The Roku Channel, are seeing growth too.

It’s a trend powered by the viewers in search of cheaper alternatives to the ever more expensive subscription-based streaming services. Paid streaming platforms are chaining content offerings to bring down costs and retain audiences as traditional linear TV channels are facing reduced audiences because of the increased pace of cord-cutting and moving to online viewing.

It also puts the Roku Sports Channel into a market where large media companies with sports streaming services include Fox Corp, Walt Disney, and Warner.