Since launching in 2023, very few networks have grown their portfolio as much as CW Sports. Headed by network President Brad Schwartz, the network has built its live sports programming from the ground up. Now reaching over 800 hours of live sports, CW Sports has lined up partnerships with a variety of leagues, ranging from NASCAR to the WWE.
The one item the network needed to figure out for its new sports property partners was a vessel to reach a streaming audience.
“We’ve never put sports on our app because sports are too valuable. We just can’t give that away for free,” said Schwartz. “We considered launching our own direct-to-consumer. Should we put a paywall up on our website? It was very quickly dismissed, because the world doesn’t need another direct-to-consumer product.”
Instead, the network announced last week that it had found its solution for a growing streaming audience. The CW Network announced a multi-year partnership with ESPN, where CW Sports live events will stream on the recently launched ESPN direct-to-consumer app.
“We thought the best path for us was to find a partner and bundle our content with somebody else,” explained Schwartz. “There are a lot of partners that we could have gone with and did talk to. Ultimately, the partner that we found to be the best path forward was working with the ‘worldwide leader.’”
Networks Working Together
The relationship between CW Sports and ESPN was born through a shared partnership with the ACC. According to Schwartz, the partnership is expected to begin in July or August, before the start of the college football season and the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts playoffs.
Under the arrangement, every CW Sports live event will be distributed on the ESPN direct-to-consumer app for subscribers to the ESPN Unlimited plan. Each event will air live from CW Sports and will also be available for on-demand viewing on ESPN following its conclusion.
Schwartz noted that the original conversations with ESPN began around their shared college football partnership.
“We sublicense an ACC package from them, and love working with them [ESPN]. When you have a partner and work together really closely on something, it leads to other conversations,” said Schwartz. “It started with asking if we should stream ACC games. Then it was, should we stream everything? The conversation just grew. This is a first-of-its-kind deal for them, and the same for us. It’s very innovative for all and took some time to figure out.”
For CW Sports, the ESPN streaming distribution serves as another outlet. Every event that airs live on ESPN’s direct-to-consumer platform will also be broadcast for free on The CW Network. Schwartz noted that the CW team will benefit from the added reach, as every event that streams on ESPN will still be sold by The CW Network.
“It’s going to be a CW-branded destination within the ESPN app, just like they have an NFL destination within the ESPN app. We control all of our content. It’s not unlike if it was just a CW app,” explained Schwartz. “It gives us that streaming solution that we, fans, and frankly the leagues have been asking us for.”
Adding to the Portfolio
Michael Perman, who joined CW Sports as Vice President in January 2025, said the addition of a streaming option is already driving more conversations for the network.
“We were the ones that had to do a majority of the outreach to present our strategy. Now, as time has gone on, that has fully changed. It’s done a 180. We’re now getting a lot of inbounds as the ‘new player in the industry,’” explained Perman.
As The CW Network has continued to build its sports portfolio, Perman noted that many discussions included questions about streaming strategy.
“This partnership with ESPN removes that part of the negotiation as a negative,” said Perman. “Being in business with ESPN and their platform helps us, in the sense that we don’t have to worry about that anymore. It’s also attracting people who don’t currently have those four letters associated with them. They are reaching out about the opportunity.”
With the change in CW Sports’ dynamic, Perman said he and many of his peers are keeping an eye on developments surrounding NFL media rights this summer.
While Schwartz admits he doesn’t see CW Sports investing in NFL media rights anytime soon, Perman is interested in how other leagues may be affected by new NFL agreements.
“Obviously, some of the companies that may be spending may have to pull back on additional spending. So, there might be some additional rights that may become available that we may be interested in,” explained Perman. “We look at everything. We’re in every single conversation and meet with a lot of different people. We have over 800 hours and continue to evaluate everything. It just depends on what rights come up based on the fallout from the NFL.”
Power of Broadcast
Now that CW Sports has established a solution for reaching a streaming audience, it doesn’t diminish the value of broadcast. Schwartz emphasized the continued credibility and success of broadcast when it comes to live sports, something he believes positions The CW Network strongly for future growth alongside its new ESPN partnership.
“The great thing about leagues looking for a home is that everyone still wants that broadcast reach. We’ve all seen examples of leagues that put themselves behind small paywalls, and it’s really hurt them. Maybe they got a big check, but it really hurt their viewership,” explained Schwartz. “If you’re a sports league and you want the most people to watch, you’re going to want broadcast to be some part of it, and we’ll be there to have those conversations.”
What CW Sports has ultimately done here isn’t just solve a distribution problem—it has defined its identity in a crowded, fractured media landscape.
By refusing to chase a standalone streaming play and instead aligning with ESPN, the network has positioned itself as both accessible and scalable: free-to-air for reach and premium-adjacent for growth.
CW Sports is making a clear bet—that the future isn’t about choosing between broadcast and streaming, but about ensuring a presence in both without sacrificing the value of either.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
