CW Sports
LaunchedFebruary 25, 2023 (2023-02-25)
Division ofThe CW
Country of originUnited States
Key peopleDennis Miller (CW President) [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 50 college football and basketball games from the Atlantic Coast Conference, the documentary series 100 Days to Indy and the Inside the NFL studio program.

History

Division formation

Logo until January 2024

In 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 (not including its previous relationships with WWE for sports entertainment programming). 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.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4][5]

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.[6]

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,[7] 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.[8]

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, with Gray Television's Raycom Sports division, who previously produced syndicated ACC broadcasts, remaining the production partner. The package had been with Fox Sports Net before transitioning to Bally Sports in the 2021 season with the network's ownership transfer.[9]

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.[10]

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 (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".[11]

Wrestling

Prior to the formation of CW Sports, in 2006, The CW began airing the scripted WWE SmackDown when UPN (the previous rightsholder) and The WB merged into the network; the only other sports coverage among those two networks outside local affiliate coverage of professional and college sports, was of the original XFL on UPN in 2001 for a package of Sunday night games.[12] In October 2008, SmackDown moved to MyNetworkTV.[13] In 2012–13, The CW aired WWE Saturday Morning Slam as part of its Vortexx kids programming block though block lessee Saban.[14][15]

In November 2023, it was announced that WWE wrestling would return to The CW, with WWE NXT moving to the channel from USA Network in 2024.[16]

Programs

Current broadcast rights

Future broadcast rights

Ancillary programming

Sports on local CW affiliates

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[17]) and the NBA (the Los Angeles Clippers on KTLA[18]).

CW Sports-only affiliates

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.[19][20] Seven 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; and Sinclair-owned WPNT and KOMO-DT2 in Seattle.[21][22][23]

CW Sports-only affiliates[24]
Market Station Channel Owner Regular affiliation
Chicago, IL WGN-TV 9Nexstar Media GroupIndependent
Des Moines–Ames, IA WHO-DT3 13.3Nexstar Media GroupAntenna TV
Elmira, NY WETM-DT2 18.2Nexstar Media GroupAntenna TV
Erie, PA WFXP-DT4 66.4Mission BroadcastingAntenna TV
Memphis, TN WMC-DT3 5.3Gray TelevisionThe365
WMC-DT5 5.5Gray TelevisionIndependent
New Haven–Hartford, CT WCTX 59Nexstar Media GroupMyNetworkTV
San Diego, CA KUSI-TV 51Nexstar Media GroupIndependent
Spokane, WA KAYU-DT2 28.2Imagicomm CommunicationsAntenna TV
Traverse City–Cadillac, MI WMNN-LD 26 Bridge Media Networks NewsNet

References

  1. ↑ Lafayette, Jon (October 3, 2022). "Nexstar Names Dennis Miller Head of The CW". Next TV. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ "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
  6. ↑ "'100 DAYS TO INDY' TO PREMIERE APRIL 27 ON THE CW NETWORK". Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Press release). February 17, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Maas, Jennifer (July 13, 2023). "The CW Scores Four-Season Rights to 50 ACC College Football and Basketball Games From Raycom, ESPN". Variety.
  10. ↑ Long, Dustin (July 28, 2023). "Xfinity races to air on CW Network starting in 2025". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Adalian, Josef; Martin, Denise (January 24, 2006). "Mixed views on WB, UPN merger". Variety. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2006.
  13. ↑ Stelter, Brian (2010-04-13). "W.W.E.'s 'Smackdown' Is Moving to Cable TV". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  14. ↑ Mrosko, Geno (2012-08-30). "WWE Saturday Morning Slam debut a ratings success for CW network". SB Nation. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  15. ↑ "Saturday Morning Slam is terminated by WWE". Sports Keeda. 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  16. ↑ Porter, Rick (2023-11-07). "'WWE NXT' Moving to The CW From USA in 2024". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  17. ↑ Spektor, Elle (February 13, 2023). "Catch the 2023 Mets on PIX11". WPIX. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  18. ↑ Sternfield, Marc (September 20, 2022). "L.A. Clippers basketball returns to free over-the-air TV on KTLA 5". KTLA. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  19. ↑ Rice, Lynette (February 14, 2023). "LIV Golf Tour Clears 100 Percent Of US Markets (But Not All CW Stations)". Deadline. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ Lafayette, Jon (August 30, 2023). "WPCH Atlanta To Become CW Affiliate In Deal With Gray TV". Broadcasting and Cable. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  24. ↑ "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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