Roku is set to air more live sports in 2025 after striking a new partnership to become the exclusive U.S. streaming home of X Games Aspen and an X Games event slated for this summer.
The competition, which was originally founded by ESPN but sold to private equity in 2022, will be available on the recently launched Roku Sports Channel. Additionally, the platform is launching an X Games TV FAST channel and will launch X Game Zone, a one-stop destination that will include programming highlights, clips, interviews, archival content and more.
“This partnership with X Games is the perfect marriage between content and distribution—more than half of The Roku Channel’s monthly FAST audience are between the ages of 18 and 49, and the X Games have built a lifestyle brand that sits right at the intersection of sports and youth culture,” Roku Media Sports head Joe Franzetta said in a statement. “We look forward to using the reach of Roku to make these competitions — and the athletes at the heart of it all — accessible to millions of viewers for free.”
X Games Aspen will take place from Jan. 23 through Jan. 25 in Aspen, Colorado, with some of the world’s best action sports athletes competing in ski and snowboard events. Details about the additional X Games this summer will be announced at a later date.
“As the new CEO of X Games, I’m thrilled to announce this partnership with Roku, a platform that shares our commitment to delivering the best possible experience for our athletes and fans,” X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom said. “This collaboration ensures that the world’s premier action sports events will reach a broader audience, while celebrating the brilliance, creativity, and passion of the incredible athletes who make the X Games the ultimate stage for action sports.”
Roku’s latest push into sports comes after it acquired the rights to the MLB’s Sunday Leadoff in May. The Roku Sports Channel also features live races from Formula E; the Emmy-nominated talk show “The Rich Eisen Show;” “GMFB: Overtime,” a reboot of the NFL’s “Good Morning Football;” original programming such as “NFL Draft: The Pick Is In” Season 2, docuseries “WWE: Next Gen” and “Fight Inc: Inside the UFC,” and exclusive partner content such as boxing matches from Top Rank, combat sports from Swerve Sports and poker games from PokerGO.
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