Roku Sacks All Fox Channels Just Days Before the Super Bowl Due to Carriage Dispute
Upset streamers will likely need an antenna or a new subscription to YouTube TV to watch the big game
Sean Burch | January 31, 2020 @ 7:46 AM
Last Updated: January 31, 2020 @ 12:47 PM
Photo credit: Getty Images
Roku customers who were looking to watch Sunday’s Super Bowl on their Fox Sports app will need to change their game plan; Roku, just days before the big game, has removed Fox from its platform.
In a Thursday evening tweet, Roku said its agreement with Fox would expire on Friday and all “Fox channels were removed from the Roku Channel Store.”
A rep for Roku, which sells several different streaming devices, told CNET the company was continuing to negotiate with Fox in an effort to reach a new agreement.
Fox, meanwhile, immediately pushed back against Roku. In a statement shared with TheWrap, Fox said the situation was a “naked effort” by Roku to use its “customers as pawns.” Fox added it’s a “poorly timed negotiating ploy” by Roku, and that the company is “fabricating a crisis with no thought for the alarm it generated among its own customers.”
For disappointed Roku customers, there is a loophole: They can watch Fox on Sunday by signing up for YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, Fubo or Sling TV; YouTube TV costs customers $50 a month, while Hulu’s live streaming service costs $55 per month. Roku didn’t hide this option from customers, even mentioning in its statement that viewers can find free trials for many of the services.
Another old school option for Roku customers, not looking to sign up for anything, would be to get an antenna for their TVs.
A Roku spokesperson, later on Friday morning, told TheWrap the game will also stream for free on the NFL channel “unless Fox blocks it.”
The Super Bowl is set to air on Fox this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the San Francisco 49ers taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami.
Super Bowl LV: Kansas City Chiefs' Most Famous Fans, From Paul Rudd to Melissa Etheridge (Photos)
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl, and this year, they're taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here are some of the famous faces that will be cheering on Kansas City along with all the drunk would-be tailgaters (sorry Chiefs fans) when the team heads to Tampa for the big game.
Getty Images
Paul Rudd: It would seem irresponsible not to start this list with Paul Rudd, who is arguably the celebrity most know as a diehard fan of not only the Kansas City Chiefs, but the city's baseball team, the Royals, as well. When the Royals clinched a playoff spot in 2014, Rudd, who grew up in Lenexa, Kansas, and attended the University of Kansas, jokingly invited fans to a party at his mother's house.
Getty Images
Rob Riggle: The funny man and former Marine grew up just outside Kansas City in Overland Park, Kansas, and was also a fixture during the Royals' most recent two World Series campaigns. Riggle told a Chiefs team blog before last season's Super Bowl that he'd been waiting for the Chiefs to go to the Super Bowl his entire life.
Getty Images
Jason Sudeikis: Though younger than Rudd, Sudeikis went to the same high school in Kansas as the superhero actor. He was also a fixture at games during the Royals' playoff runs and has been a staunch supporter of Kansas City, even wearing a T-shirt of a popular Irish pup in Kansas City's historic Westport neighborhood in the above photo.
Getty Images
Eric Stonestreet: The "Modern Family" actor grew up on livestock farm in Kansas City, Kansas (which is different from Kansas City, Missouri). But if you question his love of Chiefs, just scroll through his Instagram to see photos of him from last season in the locker room and video of him beating the drum during home games.
Getty Images
Brad Pitt: If Paul Rudd is the actor most famously known to be a Chiefs fan, then Brad Pitt is simply the most famous Chiefs fan. While walking the red carpet at the 2020 SAG Awards, which happened to be the same day the Chiefs punched their ticket to the big game last season, fellow Chiefs fans tossed Pitt a hat to rock on the carpet.
Getty Images
David Koechner: The "Anchorman" actor, who is from Tipton, Missouri, has also had the honor of banging the drum during a Chiefs' home game last season, and has often been seen hanging out with Rudd, Stonestreet, Sudeikis and Riggle during Royals playoff games.
Getty Images
Melissa Etheridge: The country rock icon, from Leavenworth, Kansas, is a longtime supporter of the red and yellow. She even sang the national anthem ahead of last season's AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots.
Getty Images
Henry Cavill: The Kansas City Chiefs have a Superman, which is fitting, since the comic book character grew up just over the state line in Kansas. Cavill, however, is English from Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Getty Images
Tech N9ne: Anyone from the 816 knows the impact and importance of rapper Tech N9ne, whose real name is Aaron Yates. The Kansas City, Missouri-born artist has been repping for the city since Day 1.
Getty Images
Heidi Gardner: Since Jason Sudeikis left the cast, Gardner has represented for the heartland on Saturday Night Live. The Kansas City, Missouri-born comedian attended both the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri.
Getty Images
John Amos: The iconic "Good Times" and "Roots" actor -- among many other films and TV series -- is not only a Kansas City Chiefs fan, but in 1967 he actually signed a free agent contract with the team before being cut.
Kansas City Chiefs
Kevin Willmott: The Oscar winner, which he won for co-writing "BlacKkKlansman" with director Spike Lee, also teaches film and media studies at the University of Kansas. He told The Kansas City Star: "Have been a fan since fifth grade when I got a Chiefs vs. Vikings electric football game of their Super Bowl win for Christmas."
Getty Images
David Cook: The "American Idol" winner grew up a Chiefs fan not far from Arrowhead Stadium in Blue Springs, Missouri.
Getty Images
Harris Faulkner: The Fox News host has been a Chiefs fan ever since her days as an anchor at WDAF in Kansas City. She sang the national anthem before a game in 1999.
Fox News
1 of 15
From Superman to a former People sexiest man alive, the Chiefs have some powerfully famous supporters
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl, and this year, they're taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here are some of the famous faces that will be cheering on Kansas City along with all the drunk would-be tailgaters (sorry Chiefs fans) when the team heads to Tampa for the big game.
Getty Images
Getty Images
