The National Women’s Soccer League is expanding its streaming footprint.
Roku and the NWSL have signed a deal that will make the Roku Sports Channel the exclusive home for a package of Sunday night games for the rest of the 2026 season and the 2027 campaign. First up is an Aug. 30 match between the Seattle Reign and Houston Dash.
The pact is the latest live sports rights deal for the free streamer — and arguably the highest profile one in Roku’s current portfolio, which also has rights to X Games, Formula E and the Bassmaster pro fishing circuit. The live matches will expand an existing partnership between the NWSL and Roku, which last year created an NWSL Zone that showcased highlights, game replays and other league-related programming and pointed viewers toward games on the league’s other media partners (CBS Sports, ESPN, Ion, Prime Video and the league-run NWSL+ streaming service).
“We’re thrilled to be elevating our partnership with NWSL to include this exclusive package of Sunday Night matches, leading into and during what will be a watershed year for women’s soccer,” said Joe Franzetta, Roku’s head of sports. “As sports fandom is continuing to grow alongside streaming access to sports, our audience reach will bring the NWSL matches to more than half of U.S. streaming households and deepen our commitment to highlighting women’s sports.”
Roku will stream eight matches in the final weeks of this season and 25 games on Sundays in 2027. The NWSL’s deal with Roku comes a few weeks after the league terminated its agreement with fledgling sports streamer Victory+ over missed rights payments.
“As we continue to grow the NWSL’s audience, we’re focused on making it as easy as possible for fans to find and watch our matches wherever they are,” said NWSL chief marketing officer Rachel Epstein. “Roku’s tremendous scale and accessibility make them an exciting partner as we bring more NWSL matches to more viewers and continue building consistent destinations for fans to engage with our league.”
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