Fox Sports (United States)
On the 17th of December 1993, the National Football League selected a $1.58 billion bid from Fox to televise its National Football Conference games. This decision stripped CBS of football telecasts for the first time since 1955 and established Fox as the nation's fourth major network. The deal included exclusive U.S. television rights to broadcast Super Bowl XXXI in 1997. Fox lured commentators Pat Summerall, John Madden, Dick Stockton, Matt Millen, James Brown, and Terry Bradshaw away from CBS Sports to staff the network's coverage. The network's studio coverage originated from the Fox Television Center in Hollywood, California before moving to Century City by 1998. News Corporation struck affiliation deals with New World Communications and SF Broadcasting to switch sixteen stations to Fox between September 1994 and September 1996. These moves were critical because Fox's affiliate body mainly consisted of UHF stations that had weaker signals and little prior history as major network affiliates.
Fox secured partial Major League Baseball rights on the 7th of November 1995 through a shared deal with NBC. The network paid approximately $115 million for this package, which was a fraction of what CBS had paid for similar rights effective with the 1990 season. A six-year renewal valued at $2.5 billion in September 2000 made Fox Sports the exclusive over-the-air broadcaster of MLB. This agreement gave them rights to the World Series beginning with the 2000 edition and exclusive coverage of the League Championship Series. On the 11th of November 1999, Fox and FX won rights to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Busch Series starting in the 2001 season. Their first telecast was the 2001 Daytona 500, an event marred by a final-lap crash resulting in the death of Dale Earnhardt. Later that year, Fox acquired Speedvision and rebranded it as Speed Channel in February 2002. In May 2010, Fox aired the final of the UEFA Champions League, marking its first soccer broadcast. By August 2013, Fox announced a seven-year agreement with the Ultimate Fighting Championship ending their relationship with Spike.
On the 14th of December 2017, Walt Disney Company announced plans to acquire then-parent company 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. The deal included key assets such as 20th Century Fox, regional Fox Sports Networks, FX Networks, and Fox Sports International. Under the terms of this acquisition, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, and other core assets were spun off into the division's current parent company, which is independently owned by Fox Corporation. Regional sports networks operated under Sinclair Broadcast Group after being sold by Disney. Fox Sports International shut down in 2024. On the 31st of March 2021, the Fox Sports Networks rebranded as Bally Sports following the sale to Sinclair. This corporate restructuring fundamentally changed how regional coverage was delivered to cable subscribers in markets like Kansas City and Milwaukee. The spin-off allowed Fox Corporation to focus on national general sports programming while divesting itself from the complex web of regional agreements that had defined its earlier years.
Fox Sports Media Group formally announced the replacement of Speed with Fox Sports 1 on the 5th of March 2013. The network eventually launched on the 17th of August 2013. It aired content from Major League Baseball, UFC, NASCAR, soccer including the FIFA World Cup, and multiple college sports events. Fox Sports Live launched as a competitor to ESPN's SportsCenter with around-the-clock coverage through regularly scheduled programs. Notable personalities on FS1 included Regis Philbin, Mike Tyson, Michael Strahan, and Erin Andrews. On the 17th of August 2013, Fuel TV was rebranded as Fox Sports 2, serving primarily as an overflow channel for FS1. Fox Soccer was replaced by FXX on the 2nd of September 2013, shifting its sports programming over to Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2. The international feed of Speed was replaced with Fox Sports Racing on the 20th of February 2015. This reorganization consolidated Fox's cable presence into two main channels dedicated to broad sports coverage rather than niche motorsports or extreme sports.
For Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002, Fox Sports produced its first telecast in a 16:9, 480p enhanced-definition format marketed as Fox Widescreen. Fox began producing selected events in 720p high definition starting the 3rd of July 2004 with the Pepsi 400 and select NFL games. As of late July 2010, all sports programming broadcast by Fox-owned networks transitioned to a format optimized for 16:9 widescreen displays. From 2016 until selling its virtual reality division FoxNext to Disney in 2019, Fox Sports produced limited game telecasts in 360-degree virtual reality mostly covering college football. In 2017, Fox began producing selected telecasts in 4K ultra-high-definition television starting with NASCAR and college basketball events. They televised Thursday Night Football games in 1080p upconverted to 4K with HLG HDR on the 26th of September 2019. These technological shifts required significant investment in new camera systems and graphics hardware to meet viewer expectations for clarity and immersion.
The opening notes of the theme used on Fox network's NFL broadcasts are incorporated in iterations of other themes used on Fox Sports broadcasts. The first score bug was used for Fox's NFL coverage before expanding to baseball and hockey broadcasts. By 2001, the score bug restructured as a horizontal header positioned at the top of the screen featuring a translucent black rectangle. Team abbreviations appeared in white with scores in yellow boxes during NFL broadcasts until Super Bowl XXXVI when coloring changed to yellow. Beginning with the 2006 NFL season, real-time scores from around the league became a permanent fixture on the extreme right side of the bar. The bug's coloring changed to reflect the team currently in possession of the ball. A new graphics package launched the 27th of August 2017 for Fox's first NFL preseason broadcast featured a dark flat design scheme shifting football to a horizontal score banner along the bottom of the screen. In February 2020, the first bespoke graphics package for football debuted at Super Bowl LIV featuring a theme based on parallelograms and a centered pod-like scoreboard.
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Common questions
When did Fox Sports become a major network?
Fox became the nation's fourth major network on the 17th of December 1993 after winning the right to televise National Football Conference games. This decision stripped CBS of football telecasts for the first time since 1955 and established Fox as a major broadcaster.
What sports rights did Fox secure in 1995 and 2000?
Fox secured partial Major League Baseball rights on the 7th of November 1995 through a shared deal with NBC. A six-year renewal valued at $2.5 billion in September 2000 made Fox Sports the exclusive over-the-air broadcaster of MLB including the World Series beginning with the 2000 edition.
How did Disney acquire Fox assets in 2017?
Walt Disney Company announced plans to acquire then-parent company 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion on the 14th of December 2017. The deal included key assets such as 20th Century Fox, regional Fox Sports Networks, FX Networks, and Fox Sports International before they were spun off into Fox Corporation.
When was Fox Sports 1 launched and what replaced it?
Fox Sports Media Group formally announced the replacement of Speed with Fox Sports 1 on the 5th of March 2013 and the network eventually launched on the 17th of August 2013. Fuel TV was rebranded as Fox Sports 2 on the 17th of August 2013 serving primarily as an overflow channel for FS1.
What technology changes did Fox implement between 2004 and 2019?
Fox began producing selected events in 720p high definition starting the 3rd of July 2004 with the Pepsi 400 and select NFL games. They televised Thursday Night Football games in 1080p upconverted to 4K with HLG HDR on the 26th of September 2019 after transitioning all sports programming to a format optimized for 16:9 widescreen displays by late July 2010.