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| Launched | February 25, 2023; 2 years ago (2023-02-25) |
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| Division of | The CW |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Key people | Michael Perman (SVP, CW Sports)[1] |
| Headquarters | Burbank, California |
| Major broadcasting contracts | |
| Official website | www |
CW Sports is the sports programming division ofThe CW that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried on the network.
The division was formed on February 25, 2023 with The CW's acquisition of broadcast rights toLIV Golf. The CW also airs college football and basketball games from theAtlantic Coast Conference, college football games from thePac-12 Conference and theNASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Unlike the sports divisions of the other major networks, CW Sports does not currently produce any of its own programming; its current properties are produced via partnerships with third-parties or a respective league's media department (such as NASCAR Productions andRaycom Sports).
In August 2022,Nexstar Media Group acquired a majority stake in The CW network.[2] Nexstar focused on broadening the network's programming, including adding sports.[3]
In January 2023, The CW agreed to a three-year broadcast deal withLIV Golf, the upstart professional golf tour financed bySaudi Arabia'sPublic Investment Fund, marking the first-ever national sports broadcasting contract for the network. Weekday rounds will be available on The CW's streaming apps, while weekend rounds will air on the broadcast network. The announcement led to the launch of the CW Sports division.[4] The network and main owner Nexstar were criticized by theNational Press Club for participating in what it considers an attempt by the Saudi government to rehabilitate its image following theassassination of journalistJamal Khashoggi.[5]
On February 14, 2023, the network said its LIV Golf coverage would be carried in 100% of U.S. media markets. However, as existing contracts at the time only obligated CW affiliates to air prime time andSaturday morning E/I programming, some of them declined to carry LIV coverage. Among the refraining stations were the eight CW stations owned byCBS News and Stations, ostensibly due toCBS Sports' longstandingpartnership with the competingPGA Tour. In many of the affected markets, LIV coverage would air on a Nexstar-owned station, a subchannel carrying adigital multicast network, or on another station not connected with The CW or Nexstar under a secondary affiliation agreement.[6][7] The CW declined to renew their rights to LIV Golf beyond the 2024 season, withFox Sports becoming the new home for the golf tour.[8] On February 17, 2023, The CW announced it had picked up the rights to100 Days to Indy, a documentary series following the leadup to the2023 Indianapolis 500 produced byPenske Entertainment andVice Media.[9] The show moved to the steaming serviceFox Nation in 2025.[10]
Throughout summer 2023, The CW announced the acquisition of several sports properties. On June 7, The CW announced it acquired the rights toInside the NFL, which was previously cable-exclusive toHBO and thenShowtime, and streamed onParamount+, for its 47th season, bringing the series to broadcast television for the first time.NFL Films continues to produce,[11] with formerSteelers safetyRyan Clark as the new host, andChanning Crowder,Jay Cutler,Chad Johnson andChris Long as analysts.[12] The show was dropped by The CW followingSuper Bowl LIX in February 2025.[13]
On July 13, 2023, it was announced that The CW had acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to 50Atlantic Coast Conference college football and basketball games each season through 2026–27; the broadcasts would be produced byRaycom Sports division, who previously produced syndicated ACC broadcasts.The package had been withFox Sports Net before transitioning toBally Sports in the 2021 season with the network's ownership transfer.[14]
On July 28, 2023, the network andNASCAR announced a rights deal for theNASCAR Xfinity Series, rights previously spread among several cable and broadcast networks. The deal will encompass the 2025–2031 racing seasons.[15] On April 11, 2024, It was announced that the deal was moved up to September 2024, with coverage beginning with theFood City 300 regular season finale race atBristol Motor Speedway, withNBC Sports producing the broadcasts using itsNASCAR on NBC staff.[16]
In January 2024, the division's name was amended to simply "CW Sports" as part of The CW's new brand identity. The rebranding had notably removed thearticle "The" from the network's logo and certain use cases (while maintaining "The CW" as its verbal branding); chief marketing officer Chris Spadaccini specifically cited the sports division as a context where "CW" worked better than "The CW".[17]
On May 14, 2024, The CW announced an agreement to carry 11 football games involvingOregon State University andWashington State University, the two remaining members of thePac-12 Conference.[18][19][20] After simulcasting the 2023 edition as part of an agreement with the game's then-sponsorBarstool Sports,[21] CW Sports also acquired rights to the 2024Arizona Bowl.[22]
On July 22, 2024, CW Sports announced that it would rebrand its football coverage asCW Football Saturday for the upcoming season, adding an eponymous studio show hosted byMike Yam. The program, as well as the OSU/WSU games, are produced by Pac-12 Enterprises, which consists of the remaining staff of the Pac-12 Conference's former cable channelPac-12 Network.[23][24]
In September 2024, The CW aired the finals of the Chicago Openbeach volleyball tournament as part of a one-off deal with theAssociation of Volleyball Professionals.[25] On December 2024, CW added two new ACC women’s basketball games to its 2025 sports schedule, creating a pair of Sunday doubleheaders.[26] In the first quarter of 2025, CW Sports announced media rights agreements withGrand Slam Track[27] theAssociation of Volleyball Professionals,[28] and the HBCU All-Star Basketball game,[29] as well as a renewal of its agreement to air Pac-12 football games for the 2025 season.[30][31] In June 2025, The CW announced an agreement with theSavannah Bananas to air oneBanana Ball game in July.[32] In July 2025, The CW announced a multi-year deal withProfessional Bull Riders to air weekend events.[33]
In August 2025, with the conference expanding to nine members beginning in 2026, the Pac-12 announced a renewal of its broadcasting agreement with CW Sports through the 2030–31 academic year. The contract covers 66 events per-season, including 13 football games, regular season men's (35) and women's (15) basketball games, as well as coverage of the semi-finals and championship of thePac-12 women's basketball tournament.[34]
Outside of network programming, several CW affiliates have carried telecasts ofbasketball,football and in some cases, other collegiate sporting events (such asbaseball orhockey) that are produced by syndicators, while a few carry games from local teams of major professional sports leagues such asMajor League Baseball (theNew York Mets onWPIX[36]) and theNBA (theLos Angeles Clippers onKTLA[37]).
Seventeen affiliates of The CW, eight of which were owned byCBS News and Stations, declined to carry the network's sports coverage ofLIV Golf, which as weekend afternoon programming was not specified, nor mandated, under the network's affiliation contracts as of LIV Golf's debut on The CW. In all of the affected markets, the network has made secondary affiliation arrangements with other stations.[38][39] Seven additional stations agreed to carry LIV Golf and subsequently affiliated with the CW on September 1, 2023: Nexstar-ownedWPHL-TV,KRON-TV andWTTA;Hearst-ownedKQCA;Gray Television-ownedWPCH-TV; andSinclair-ownedWPNT andKUNS-TV.[40][41][42][43]
Several affiliates have also preempted coverage of the Xfinity Series in favor of local sports.[44]
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