The CW is continuing its expansion into live sports as it attempts to reach a broader audience.
Last month, the Nexstar-owned TV network said it will air the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl on December 30 at 4 p.m. ET. The game will see a team from the Mid-American Conference, MAC, and a Mountain West Conference team face off in Tucson, Arizona.
“The CW is quickly becoming a destination for college football fans every Saturday thanks to our partnership with the ACC, which has delivered some of the biggest ratings in the history of the network. We look forward to continuing this momentum with our first bowl game, delivered in the iconoclastic Barstool fashion,” Brad Schwartz, the CW Network’s president of entertainment, said in a statement.
The CW has historically been known as the home of DC superhero shows and teen dramas. But new owner Nexstar has been working to revamp the network as a legitimate competitor by going after content that offers more mass appeal, including enhancing its sports lineup.
So far, the network has amassed live sports content like ACC football and basketball, LIV Golf, and the weekly studio series Inside the NFL. The CW will add WWE NXT to its sports roster next year and NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025 and soon plans to offer 500 hours of sports programming year-round.