CW Sports is the sports programming division of The CW that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried on the network.
The division was formed in 2023 with The CW's acquisition of broadcast rights to LIV Golf. The CW also airs college football and basketball games from the Atlantic Coast Conference, the documentary series 100 Days to Indy and the Inside the NFL studio program.
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 with LIV Golf, the upstart professional golf tour financed by Saudi Arabia's Public 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 the National Press Club for participating in what it considers an attempt by the Saudi government to rehabilitate its image following the assassination of journalist Jamal 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 and Saturday morning E/I programming, some of them declined to carry LIV coverage. Among the refraining stations were the eight CW stations owned by CBS News and Stations, ostensibly due to CBS Sports' longstanding partnership with the competing PGA Tour. In many of the affected markets, LIV coverage would air on a Nexstar-owned station, a subchannel carrying a digital multicast network, or on another station not connected with The CW or Nexstar under a secondary affiliation agreement.[6][7]
Throughout the summer of 2023, The CW announced the acquisition of several sports properties. On June 7, 2023, The CW announced it had acquired the rights to the series Inside the NFL for its 47th season, which previously aired via streaming service Paramount+ and previous to that, was cable-exclusive to HBO, then Showtime, bringing the series to broadcast television for the first time. NFL Films will continue to produce the show,[9] with former Steelers safety Ryan Clark as the new host. Channing Crowder, Jay Cutler, Chad Johnson and Chris Long will also join the show as analysts.[10]
On July 13, 2023, it was announced that The CW had acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to 50 Atlantic Coast Conference college football and basketball games each season through 2026–27; the broadcasts would be produced by Raycom Sports division, who previously produced syndicated ACC broadcasts. The package had been with Fox Sports Net before transitioning to Bally Sports in the 2021 season with the network's ownership transfer.[11]
On July 28, 2023, the network and NASCAR announced a rights deal for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, rights previously spread among several cable and broadcast networks. The deal will encompass the 2025–2031 racing seasons.[12] On April 11, 2024, It was announced that the deal was moved up to September 2024, with coverage beginning with the Food City 300 regular season finale race at Bristol Motor Speedway, with NBC Sports producing the broadcasts using its NASCAR on NBC staff.[13]
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 the article "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".[14]
Seventeen affiliates of The CW, eight of which were owned by CBS News and Stations, declined to carry the network's sports coverage of LIV 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.[21][22] Eight additional stations agreed to carry LIV Golf and subsequently affiliated with the CW on September 1, 2023: Nexstar-owned WPHL-TV, KRON-TV and WTTA; Hearst-owned KQCA; Gray Television-owned WPCH-TV; Scripps-owned WMYD; and Sinclair-owned WPNT and KUNS-TV.[23][24][25][26]
