Roku Lands Exclusive NWSL Sunday Night Matches in New Streaming Deal
Roku has signed a deal with the National Women's Soccer League making the Roku Sports Channel the exclusive home for a package of Sunday night NWSL games through the 2026 and 2027 seasons, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The first match under the agreement kicks off on Saturday, 30 August, when the Seattle Reign host the Houston Dash.
Roku will stream eight NWSL matches in the final weeks of the 2026 season, followed by 25 Sunday night games in 2027. The deal expands an existing partnership between the two organisations. In March 2025, Roku launched an NWSL Zone on its platform — a dedicated hub offering highlights, match replays and league-related programming — and the free NWSL+ streaming service has been available through Roku's channel store for fans wanting live games with no subscription and no blackouts.
The agreement is the highest-profile live sports rights deal in Roku's portfolio, which also includes the X Games, Formula E and the Bassmaster pro fishing circuit. Joe Franzetta, Roku's head of sports, oversees the company's sports rights strategy. For the NWSL, Rachel Epstein, the league's chief marketing officer, helps guide the league's brand and media positioning.
The Roku deal arrives a few weeks after the NWSL terminated its agreement with sports streamer Victory+ over missed rights payments, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. That rupture left a gap in the league's broadcast schedule, and Roku has now filled it.
The NWSL's media landscape is crowded. The league's other partners include CBS Sports, ESPN, Ion, Prime Video and the league-run NWSL+ streaming service. Roku now holds the exclusive Sunday night window, meaning those particular matches will not be available on any of those other platforms — a standard arrangement in sports broadcasting, where a platform pays for the right to be the sole distributor of a specific package of games.
For fans, the practical effect is straightforward. Sunday night NWSL matches for the rest of this season and all of next will require a Roku device or the Roku app, which is available on most smart TVs and streaming sticks. The matches stream on the Roku Sports Channel at no additional cost beyond access to the Roku platform itself, which is free to use.
Women's football has drawn increasing broadcast interest across multiple markets in recent seasons, with rights fees climbing as audiences grow. The NWSL's 2026 season had already been expanded internationally, with the league announcing global broadcast partners on 12 March 2026. The Roku agreement adds a domestic streaming partner to that mix — one that, unlike subscription services such as Prime Video, does not charge a monthly fee for access.
Eight matches this season. Twenty-five in 2027. All on Sunday nights, all on Roku, and the first one is four days away.
