Roku has landed exclusive streaming rights to X Games Aspen and a 'major' X Games event set for summer 2025. ESPN and ABC will continue to provide X Games TV coverage.
In yet another example of sports shifting to streaming platforms, Roku said it has locked in the exclusive US streaming rights for X Games Aspen and a yet-to-be-announced "major" X Games event slated for next summer. X Games Aspen is set for January 23-25, 2025.
Under the agreement, "select" X Games events will be available for free on The Roku Channel's recently launched Roku Sports Channel, which includes a selection of Major League Baseball games, "The Rich Eisen Show" and live Formula E races.
Tied in, Roku has launched X Games TV, a new free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel featuring X Games highlights, clips, interviews and archival content.
Financial terms were not announced, but the deal will give Roku some additional sports fare and premium advertising inventory. Roku's platform division, which includes advertising, posted Q3 2024 revenues of $908 million, up 15% versus the year-ago period. The Roku Channel was the number three app on Roku's platform in terms of both reach and engagement in Q3.
Prior to the coming move to Roku, X Games content has been streamed on other platforms, including YouTube, Twitch and the VR app Xtadium, according to The Verge.
"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," X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom said in a statement.
X Games linear content will continue to be featured on ESPN and ABC, the organization confirmed. ESPN founded the X Games in the mid-1990s, and it sold a majority stake in the franchise to New York-based private equity firm MSP Sports Capital in 2022. ESPN still holds a minority stake in X Games.
Streaming becoming a home for sports
However, the Roku-X Games deal builds on a trend that is seeing sports content migrate to various streaming platforms and alternative distributors, including Amazon, Apple and Netflix, among others. Meanwhile, streaming services run by traditional media companies, such as NBCU's Peacock and Paramount+, have continued to expand their respective slate of live sports.
That trend has also factored into the downward trajectory of traditional pay-TV subscriptions. Sports has long been viewed as the glue holding the pay-TV model together, but that model has been breaking apart as more sports rights are awarded to direct-to-consumer streaming platforms and services.
Light Reading will present a deeper dive on this trend in a feature set to be published on Monday, December 30.
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