After terminating its rights agreement with free streaming platform Victory+, the NWSL has found a new home for its Sunday Night Soccer matches: The Roku Channel, one of the biggest free streaming services.
Roku will carry eight matches this season, starting Aug. 30, and it will have a package of 25 Sunday night matches in 2027 as the league looks for next summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup to further boost its growth. Financial terms of the deal were not announced. A person familiar with the NWSL’s process said that the league received interest from paid subscription services, but it opted for Roku in part because of the reach the channel offers.
The Roku Channel earned 3% of TV viewing time in June, according to Nielsen, second to YouTube among largely free, ad-supported streaming apps. Fox agreed to acquire Roku for $22 billion in June, though the deal isn’t expected to close until early 2027. The move would put The Roku Channel under the same umbrella as Fox’s existing free streaming service, Tubi. Fox leaders have said that they plan to keep the consumer-facing brands separate after merging. Combined, they would represent the third largest streaming service by Nielsen’s metric.
“Right now we’re focused on executing our strategy, supporting our partners and delivering great experiences for viewers,” Roku Media head of sports Joe Franzetta said when asked about the acquisition.
