The CW Network is accelerating its transformation into a sports broadcaster, eyeing rights that could become available from TNT Sports and seeking a larger role in the College Football Playoff, according to reporting by Front Office Sports. But the question is, why is the CW changing into a sports network like ESPN?
Michael Perman, the network’s senior vice president of sports, confirmed interest in properties currently controlled by Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports unit. With Skydance carrying nearly $80 billion in debt after its acquisition of Paramount and related assets, the Nexstar-owned CW is positioning its reach of roughly 100 million U.S. homes as an attractive linear option for leagues that may see rights packages shed or restructured to cut costs. Perman specifically flagged the NHL (whose seven-year, $1.575 billion deal with TNT expires after the 2027-28 season) and the French Open as properties of interest, while also noting broader opportunities that could include Major League Soccer after its Apple deal ends.
The network is also open to more College Football Playoff games. TNT currently sublicenses a package from ESPN; with the CFP widely expected to expand to 24 teams, additional inventory will exist. Perman noted the CW’s existing relationship with ESPN—which already streams CW Sports content on the ESPN app under the Unlimited plan and has sublicensed ACC football and basketball to the network—and said the CW would be interested in further discussions.
This strategy is not opportunistic in isolation. Over the past three years under Nexstar ownership, the CW has gone from essentially zero live sports to a substantial portfolio that includes ACC, Pac-12, and Mountain West college football, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, WWE NXT, Professional Bull Riders, and more. College football inventory has expanded significantly, attracting new sponsors such as Google, Coca-Cola, Capital One, and P&G. Network executives have described sports as a deliberate pivot because broadcast television remains uniquely effective at gathering large audiences simultaneously, and live sports does this better than almost anything else on the schedule.
The economic logic is straightforward and widely recognized across the industry. Scripted programming has largely migrated to on-demand streaming, where viewers routinely skip ads. Live sports remains one of the few forms of appointment viewing: fans tune in at specific times, stay through commercial breaks to avoid missing the action, and deliver high engagement. As a result, sports advertising has grown several times faster than the overall TV ad market. Industry forecasts show sports accounting for a rising share of linear TV ad spending—potentially approaching half within a few years—while overall linear advertising faces continued pressure from cord-cutting and fragmentation.
For a broadcast network with wide free over-the-air distribution, this creates a clear path. Leagues still value linear reach for brand exposure and maximum audience, and advertisers are willing to pay premium rates for environments where attention is concentrated and ads cannot be easily avoided. The CW has emphasized a selective approach: fewer properties that it can promote heavily and grow, rather than treating sports as filler. Early results have included ratings gains for acquired properties and new advertiser interest tied to the expanded college football footprint.
Whether the CW lands major rights such as additional CFP games or NHL packages remains uncertain—those properties will draw competition, and rights costs remain high. But the network’s continued pursuit underscores a broader industry reality: as traditional entertainment viewing fragments, live sports has become the primary vehicle for premium advertising dollars on television. The CW is simply adapting its programming strategy to that fact.
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