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CW Sports
LaunchedFebruary 25, 2023; 20 months ago (2023-02-25)
Division ofThe CW
Country of originUnited States
Key peopleJason Wormser (SVP, CW Sports)[1]
HeadquartersBurbank, California
Major broadcasting contracts
Official websitewww.cwtv.com/sports/

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.

CW Sports does not currently produce any of its own programming: most of its current properties are in-house productions of a league's media department, or produced via partnerships with outside companies such as Raycom Sports.

History

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Launch

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Logo until January 2024

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]

On February 17, 2023, The CW announced it had picked up the rights to 100 Days to Indy, a documentary series following the leadup to the 2023 Indianapolis 500 produced by Penske Entertainment and Vice Media.[8]

Expansion

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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]

On May 14, 2024, The CW announced an agreement to carry 11 football games involving Oregon State University and Washington State University, the last two remaining members of the Pac-12 Conference. The broadcasts will be produced by the remaining staff of Pac-12 Network.[15][16][17] After simulcasting the 2023 edition as part of an agreement with the game's then-sponsor Barstool Sports,[18] CW Sports also acquired rights to the 2024 Arizona Bowl.[19]

On July 22, 2024, CW Sports announced that it would add a new college football studio show, CW Football Saturday, as part of its coverage beginning in the upcoming season. The program, as well as the OSU/WSU games, will utilize the remaining staff of the Pac-12 Conference's defunct Pac-12 Network.[20][21]

On September 1, 2024, The CW aired the finals of the Chicago Open beach volleyball tournament as part of a one-off deal with the Association of Volleyball Professionals.[22]

Programs

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Current live events

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Past live events

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Studio programming

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Ancillary programming

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Sports on local CW affiliates

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See also: Historical Major League Baseball television broadcasters and List of historical NBA over-the-air television broadcasters

Outside of network programming, several CW affiliates have carried telecasts of basketball, football and in some cases, other collegiate sporting events (such as baseball or hockey) that are produced by syndicators, while a few carry games from local teams of major professional sports leagues such as Major League Baseball (the New York Mets on WPIX[23]) and the NBA (the Los Angeles Clippers on KTLA[24]).

Affiliate preemptions

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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.[25][26] 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.[27][28][29][30]

LIV Golf alternate affiliates[31]
Market Station Channel Owner Regular affiliation
Elmira, NY WETM-DT2 18.2 Nexstar Media Group Antenna TV
New Haven–Hartford, CT WCTX 59 Nexstar Media Group MyNetworkTV
San Diego, CA KUSI-TV 51 Nexstar Media Group Independent
Traverse City–Cadillac, MI WMNN-LD 26 Bridge Media Networks ShopHQ

References

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  1. ^ Rice, Lynette (February 12, 2024). "Jason Wormser Named Senior Vice President of CW Sports". Deadline Hollywood.
  2. ^ "Nexstar Media Group to Acquire The CW Network". Nexstar Media Group, Inc. August 15, 2022. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  3. ^ Fang, Ken (July 30, 2023). "The CW is building sports programming from scratch". Awful Announcing. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  4. ^ Strauss, Ben; Bonesteel, Matt (January 19, 2023). "After a year of streaming, LIV Golf finds a television partner". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  5. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (January 19, 2022). "CW Owner Nexstar Called Out for Partnering With Saudi-Backed LIV Golf: 'Saudi Arabia Murdered a Journalist'". TVLine. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  6. ^ Rice, Lynette (February 14, 2023). "LIV Golf Tour Clears 100 Percent Of US Markets (But Not All CW Stations)". Deadline. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  7. ^ "LIV On CW: Behind Nexstar's Drive To Secure TV Stations For Controversial Golf League," Archived February 25, 2023, at the Wayback Machine from Deadline, 2/24/2023
  8. ^ "'100 DAYS TO INDY' TO PREMIERE APRIL 27 ON THE CW NETWORK". Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Press release). February 17, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  9. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (June 7, 2023). "'Revamped' Inside the NFL to Air on The CW During the 2023 Football Season". TVLine. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  10. ^ Manfredi, Lucas; Cobb, Kayla (August 30, 2023). "The CW Taps Super Bowl Champion Ryan Clark As Host for 'Inside the NFL'". TheWrap. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  11. ^ Maas, Jennifer (July 13, 2023). "The CW Scores Four-Season Rights to 50 ACC College Football and Basketball Games From Raycom, ESPN". Variety.
  12. ^ Long, Dustin (July 28, 2023). "Xfinity races to air on CW Network starting in 2025". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  13. ^ "NASCAR's new Xfinity TV deal with CW Network to get an early start". us.motorsport.com. 2024-04-11. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  14. ^ Schneider, Michael (2024-01-12). "The CW Unveils New Branding Look, Dropping the 'The' and Embracing a 'Hot Sauce' Color Palette (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  15. ^ https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/pac-12-washington-state-oregon-the-cw-fox/
  16. ^ "Pac-12 football to be featured nationally across The CW Network & FOX Sports in 2024". Pac-12. May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  17. ^ "Mailbag: The ongoing issues with Pac-12 MBB, Kliavkoff's failures, future CFP access, ASU's AD job and more". The Mercury News. 2024-03-08. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  18. ^ Hayes, Dade (November 30, 2023). "The CW's Coverage Of College Football's Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl To Feature Dave Portnoy And Other Personalities Calling The Game". Deadline. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  19. ^ Neumann, Sam (2024-05-29). "2024 Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl will air on The CW". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  20. ^ Lucia, Joe (2024-07-22). "The CW's college football talent lineup consists of many Pac-12 Network alumni". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  21. ^ "The CW Network Sets Broadcast Crews and Adds Live Studio Show for 2024 ACC and Pac-12 College Football Games". Sports Video Group. July 22, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  22. ^ "CW Sports Update: NASCAR, Bill Belichick, college football and AVP debuts". CW39 Houston. August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  23. ^ Spektor, Elle (February 13, 2023). "Catch the 2023 Mets on PIX11". WPIX. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  24. ^ Sternfield, Marc (September 20, 2022). "L.A. Clippers basketball returns to free over-the-air TV on KTLA 5". KTLA. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  25. ^ Rice, Lynette (February 14, 2023). "LIV Golf Tour Clears 100 Percent Of US Markets (But Not All CW Stations)". Deadline. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  26. ^ Rice, Lynette; Hayes, Dade (February 24, 2023). "LIV On CW: Behind Nexstar's Drive To Secure TV Stations For Controversial Golf League". Deadline. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  27. ^ Miller, Mark (June 14, 2023). "Nexstar Stations In Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa To Become CW Affils On Sept. 1". TV News Check. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  28. ^
  29. ^ Lafayette, Jon (August 30, 2023). "WPCH Atlanta To Become CW Affiliate In Deal With Gray TV". Broadcasting and Cable. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  30. ^ "Detroit's WMYD-TV To Become CW Affiliate On Monday, Nov. 13". Nexstar Media Group. November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  31. ^ "LIV Golf: How To Watch Live". The CW. February 12, 2023. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
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