Could Fox’s Roku deal finally make streaming sports easier to watch?

The recently announced deal by the Fox Corporation to acquire the streaming platform Roku could have a surprising effect: making sports easier to watch in this streaming age.

Fox is well known as the only Big Four over-the-air broadcaster that has never invested heavily in a streamer. ABC has Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited, CBS has Paramount+, and NBC has Peacock.

While Fox launched its direct-to-consumer streaming service, Fox One, last summer, it does not operate a true paid streaming service like its over-the-air competitors. Its main streamer is the free Tubi, while Fox also has a deal that places most of its entertainment programming on Hulu.

For sports, this has led ABC, CBS, and NBC to use their streaming services as homes for premium sports content. Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited air NHL games, Paramount+ airs UEFA Champions League matches and UFC bouts, and Peacock has the NBA, MLB, the Premier League, Big Ten, and the Olympics.

Fox, however, continues to place its sports either over-the-air on Fox or on cable via FS1, FS2, or the Big Ten Network. There was a time when every over-the-air network had a similar strategy, but post-2020, Fox is the last one standing.

That’s what makes this deal with Roku so interesting. Roku, like Fox, does not operate a paid streaming service. You pay a small amount of money for a Roku streaming device and then install apps to watch your favorite shows. Roku has also invested in acquiring shows for its free Roku Channel in recent years.

Quietly, Roku has also invested in live sports. While its biggest deal, MLB Sunday Leadoff, is no more, the “Roku Sports Channel” continues to air the NBA G League, Savannah Bananas baseball, professional volleyball, and the X Games, among others. These are not premium sports rights, to be clear, but Roku is clearly interested in sports fans.

The free Roku Channel is very similar to Tubi, the free streaming service that Fox already owns. Tubi has also quietly invested in free sports, mostly backed by Fox. Through the “Fox Sports on Tubi” channel, Tubi has aired live World Baseball Classic games, Liga MX, and Concacaf soccer matches.

But Fox has also quietly simulcast some of its biggest events on Tubi, and that’s where the Roku deal could really be a game changer. In recent years, Tubi and Fox have simulcast Super Bowl LIX in February 2025, Fox’s most recent Thanksgiving NFL game, and the USMNT’s 2026 World Cup opener.

Why wouldn’t Fox do something similar with Roku? Especially because it has already committed to over-the-air sports, simulcasting, and promoting these events directly through Roku could meaningfully improve their accessibility. With one click— and no need to download another app or sign in to a new account — you can watch a Super Bowl or World Cup match.

For too long, the main downside of streaming compared to cable has been how unintegrated everything is. With cable, one scroll through the TV guide allows me to see what is airing on every other channel. It is easy to switch from watching MLB on NBC to the World Cup on Fox. But on streaming, to do that, you need to have both the NBC and Fox apps installed, know that there are sports airing on both, and then close and reopen each app.

This deal allows Fox Sports to be integrated smoothly into Roku, which already has a live TV section with a cable-like interface. With the right cooperation — and given that Fox and ESPN already have a streaming bundle deal — this could also enable integration with other streaming partners.

There are limitations to this. While cord-cutting continues, cable remains a profitable business. Integrating streaming lessens the appeal of cable, increasing cord-cutting and lowering cable profits.

But businesses often need to focus more on long-term strategy than short-term profit. If executed correctly, this deal could accelerate the “re-bundling” process, which may finally make streaming as easy to navigate for sports fans as cable once was.