Roku announced its first live sports rights package on Tuesday, marking a remarkable step for the streaming service as it enters the highly competitive world of live sports streaming.
Roku and CBS Sports have signed a deal to become exclusive US media partners for Formula E, the electric racing car motorsport championship series. From January 2024, the Roku channel will become the new streaming base for live and on-demand Formula E racing, as well as highlights, recaps, race previews, Formula E docu-series “Unplugged” and more.
The Roku channel will broadcast 11 races per season, while CBS will stream five races per season on Linear TV and Paramount+. All races are available through Roku’s recently launched sports tab.
In particular, The Roku Channel is a free ad-supported streaming service, allowing fans to watch 11 Formula E races for free. The free offering will make the sport more widely accessible to American viewers.
“This is a powerful new partnership with CBS and Roku that will dramatically increase Formula E’s audience reach and maximize the findability of our programming in the US,” Formula E chief media officer Aarti Dabas said in a statement. “We appreciate the strength of our ongoing relationship with CBS and are excited to join forces with Roku and boost Formula E content on their market-leading platform.”
Season 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will take place on January 13, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico.
