Soccer is becoming an important part of CBS Sports’ overall rights portfolio, especially when it comes to streaming. Their Paramount+ streaming service features more than 2,000 live matches each year across UEFA (including the Champions League), CONCACAF, and AFC competitions, Serie A, the English Football League, the Scottish Premier League, the NWSL, the USL Championship, and more. And now, it will be the primary home for the U.S. Open Cup’s third round and beyond through 2026, under a deal CBS Sports and U.S. Soccer announced Wednesday.
This deal will have every match from the third round (which begins April 15 this year) and beyond available on Paramount+. Selected matches will also be simulcast on linear channel CBS Sports Network and free advertising-supported streaming television channel CBS Sports Golazo Network. Those are the rounds where the biggest teams enter, with the 16 seeded USL Championship teams joining in the third round and the 16 MLS teams participating joining in the fourth round/Round of 32 (which begins May 6 this year). Coverage will continue through the final, which is set for Oct. 1 this year. Here’s more on this from a release:
In addition to full matches and highlights, CBS Sports’ coverage will include studio programming on CBS Sports Golazo Network and the creation of ancillary content beyond games which will focus on markets and clubs in the competition, as well as the tournament’s rich history as the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States.
“This is an incredible step forward in our service to soccer strategy and to further growing the game which highlights the longest-running and most inclusive soccer tournament in the United States,” said David Wright, U.S. Soccer Chief Commercial Officer. “CBS Sports has shown a tremendous commitment to offer accessibility for all soccer fans and to grow the sport domestically and globally, and we’re excited to have the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup featured among the world’s most exciting soccer competitions.”
“The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is a marquee addition to CBS Sports’ premium soccer portfolio with its reach across all levels of the domestic game,” said Dan Weinberg, Executive Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports. “We’re expanding our coverage by making the tournament’s exciting competition more accessible to fans than ever before and further solidifying Paramount+ as the premier destination for soccer in this country.”
Weinberg’s comment there illustrates why this works for CBS. Soccer is a crucial part of how their parent company, Paramount Global, attracts and retains subscribers for Paramount+. And this is just the latest part of that picture.
In November, Paramount Global reported 72 million Paramount+ subscribers and $49 million of profit for the direct-to-consumer division (which also includes FAST service Pluto TV) for the third quarter of 2024. With their linear cable networks seeing a writedown of almost $6 billion last August, streaming is one of their key focuses for the future, including around their pending acquisition by Skydance. And the major investments they’ve made in soccer, both with rights and with coverage, have been an important part of the streaming growth they’ve found.
For U.S. Soccer, a deal with CBS for the later rounds of the U.S. Open Cup adds credibility and promotion. On the promotion side, the studio programming and ancillary content on CBS Sports Golazo Network (which, as a FAST network, is widely accessible) should help boost awareness of and interest in the competition. The release also notes that the Cup will “also benefit from unprecedented marketing and promotional opportunities through CBS Sports’ extensive soccer portfolio.” (And marketing the Cup is quite important for them at the moment, considering the recent changes that have seen fewer MLS sides participating, and the league looking to send even fewer than that.)
There is a downgrade in accessibility with a shift from free broadcasts on YouTube to paywalled ones on Paramount+. But Paramount+ does have that aforementioned large subscriber base, including many soccer fans. Simulcasts on Golazo Network (free) and CBS Sports Network (in many cable packages) should help some of these matches reach more people.
The first two rounds of the U.S. Open Cup will continue to air on U.S. Soccer’s YouTube channel under this deal. The first round features 64 teams, including a wide range of MLS developmental sides and clubs from other leagues (including Sacha Kljestan and the fighting MLS Season Pass analysts of the Des Moines Menace, who won their opener last week). The second round there, featuring those 32 first-round winners, will take place April 1 and 2 this year. And the continued broadcasting of early-round matches on YouTube probably makes some sense for both sides, providing accessibility to those matches for those who want to see them, but letting CBS come in and boost the production quality, studio coverage and more in later rounds when there’s more widespread interest.
It is interesting that this deal is only for two seasons. If it’s not renewed, that means U.S. Soccer will be on the hunt again for a media rights deal ahead of the 2027 tournament. However, that will come after the U.S./Canada/Mexico-hosted 2026 FIFA World Cup, which could lift a lot of domestic soccer boats, potentially including this competition. And this deal gives them a broadcast partner for at least two years, and potentially more if it goes well.