Free World Cup streaming channel launches in the U.S. and Canada

North American fans who have had to hunt for World Cup streams get a simpler option this winter. FIS is launching Ski & Snowboard World Cup, a free, ad-supported channel that runs around the clock, on streaming platforms in the United States and Canada from November. FIS announced the channel on Wednesday.

The channel will carry more than 600 hours of live coverage across the FIS disciplines, cross-country included, plus documentaries and classic races. No subscription is needed. It will roll out on Prime Video, Fire TV, Google TV, Live TV on PS5, Plex, Sony Pictures Core, The Roku Channel and Xumo Play, with more services to be announced.

In the U.S., the channel is part of an expanded deal between FIS, U.S. Ski & Snowboard and NBC, so races will also be on NBC’s platforms and on a new FIS YouTube channel. In Canada, CBC and its streaming service Gem hold their biggest rights package in more than a decade. FIS hasn’t yet published a race-by-race schedule for the channel.

The cross-country World Cup starts in Ruka, Finland, on 27 November. FIS chief commercial officer Stefan Brütsch said the next step could be to offer the same kind of channel in other markets.