Fox Sports was a group of sports television channels available in Latin America. Several years after acquiring 20th Century Fox in 2019, The Walt Disney Company announced its decision to unify its sports broadcasting operations in Latin America exclusively under the ESPN brand. As a result, all Fox Sports channels were rebranded as ESPN by February 2024.[2]
 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Central America South America Caribbean |
| Network | Fox Sports International |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States[1] |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Spanish |
| Picture format | HDTV 1080i (downscaled to 480i/576i for the SD feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
| Launched | Fox Sports: 31 October 1995 Fox Sports 2: 12 October 2009 Fox Sports 3: 5 November 2012 |
| Replaced | Speed (Fox Sports 3) |
| Closed | Fox Sports: 1 December 2021 Fox Sports 2: 14 June 2023 (Central America and Dominican Republic) 15 February 2024 (South America) Fox Sports 3: 15 February 2024 |
| Replaced by | ESPN 4 (Fox Sports) ESPN 7 (Fox Sports 2) ESPN 6 (Fox Sports 3) |
| Former names | Prime Deportiva (1995–1996) Fox Sports Americas (1996–1999) |
History
editThe network was launched in 1996 as Prime Deportiva, under the ownership of Liberty Media. Prior to its launch, on October 31, 1995, News Corporation acquired a 50% ownership interest in Liberty's Prime Network group and its international networks (including sister channels Premier Sports and Prime Sports Asia) as part of an expansion of its Fox Sports properties in the Americas.[3][4] In 1996, the channel was rebranded as Fox Sports Américas, later shortened to Fox Sports in 1999. In 2002, Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst, a Dallas private equity firm, Liberty Media Corp and News Corp created a holding company (Fox Pan American Sports) to jointly operate FOX Sports Latin America.[5] News Corp owned approximately 38% interest.[6] Liberty later exited leaving HMTF and News Corp as co-owners of the cable network. News Corp purchased the ownership rights from HMTF of FOX Sports en Espanol and rebranded as FOX Deportes in 2010. News Corp purchased the remaining ownership rights for the holding company from HMTF and fully owned the FOX Sports Latin America cable network in 2011.
In 2009, a second feed called Fox Sports+ (FOX Sports mas) was launched, to allow simultaneous broadcasting of football. In 2010, FOX Sports signed a deal with UFC to be the first cable network to show it in Latin America. FOX Sports also opened a studio in 2010[7] in Mexico City where it broadcasts original programming and licensed programming. In 2012, the channel was renamed to Fox Sports 2, whereas Speed Channel was rebranded to Fox Sports 3.
In March 2019, the network became a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company after it acquired 21st Century Fox.
In December 2019, it was announced that its Chilean, Peruvian, Uruguayan and Colombian channels would go off the air.[8][9][10]
In November 2021, Disney announced that Fox Sports' main channel would be renamed ESPN 4 on December 1, 2021, and it was also announced that on May 1, 2022, Fox Sports Premium would rebrand to ESPN Premium,[11] while Fox Sports 2 and Fox Sports 3 would continue on the air with the premium channel (Fox Sports 1) in Chile continuing on the air as well until February 15, 2024, when Disney announced in November 2023 that Fox Sports 2 and Fox Sports 3 would reorganize and rebrand to ESPN 6 and ESPN 7, while in Chile, the premium channel would rebrand to ESPN Premium.[12][13][14]
On May 17, 2023, It was announced that Fox Sports' secondary channel would close in Central America and Dominican Republic on June 14, 2023, with the South feed continue to being kept on air.[15]
Feeds
editFox Sports
edit- North feed: available in Central America and Dominican Republic
- Chilean feed: available in Chile
- South feed: available in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela
Fox Sports 2
edit- North feed: available in Central America and Dominican Republic
- South feed: available in South America
Fox Sports 3
edit- Panregional feed: available in Central America, Dominican Republic and South America
Localised channels
edit- Fox Sports (Chile) — localized feed exclusively available for Chile, replacing Fox Sports in November 2013.
- Fox Sports 1 (Chile) — formerly known as Fox Sports Premium, it was launched at the same time as its sister channel. It covered pay-TV events from Fox Sports and Fox Sports 2 that couldn't be aired live on the localized feed due to broadcast licenses.
- Fox Sports (Colombia) — localized channel launched in 2016 as an independent feed with original programming.
- Fox Sports (Peru) - localised channel launched on 1 March 2018, with exclusive voice-over narrations for matches involving Peruvian football clubs and the Peruvian football team.
- Fox Sports (Uruguay) - localised channel launched in February 2014 with original programming and voice-over narrations for Uruguayan football teams.
Programming
editFox Sports Latin America broadcast sports-related programming 24 hours a day in Spanish. The network carried a wide variety of sports events, including football (UEFA Champions League, Copa Lib, etc.), MLB and WWE programming. Fox Sports also aired talk shows (NET: Nunca es tarde) as well as other programming including exercise programs.
Sports programming
editFootball
editMotorsport
edit- Formula One
- World Rally Championship
- Dakar Rally
- Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
- NASCAR Xfinity Series
- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
- NASCAR Toyota Series
- DTM
- IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship[16]
- FIA World Endurance Championship
- World Touring Car Championship
- Superbike World Championship
Other sports
edit- Major League Baseball
- National Football League
- Bellator MMA
- Glory
- Ultimate Fighting Championship (Except PPV main card)
- WWE (Raw, SmackDown, Main Event, NXT and Vintage)
Other programming
editAlongside its live sports broadcasts, Fox Sports also aired a variety of sports highlight, talk, and documentary styled shows. These include:
North feed
edit- Central Fox
- Cara a Cara
- La Previa del fin de Semana
- Impacto NFL
- Fox Sports Punto Extra
- Polémica Fox Sports
- Tribuna Fox Sports
- Auto Show TV
- Fox Gol
- La Hora de Cuauhtemoc Blanco
- La Historia de los Mundiales
- Mobil 1: The Grid
- Crítica 12
- Lo Mejor de lo Fox Sports
- Feria de Goles
- Fox para Todos
- Expediente Fútbol
- Auto Show TV
- Gillette World Sport
- Full Tilt Póker
- Volvo Ocean Race
- El Show de las Copas
- Lo Mejor de la UEFA Champions League
- El Show de la NFL en Fox Sports
- El Show de la Copa Libertadores
- El Show de la UEFA Champions League
- La Última Palabra
- Fox Sports Review
South feed
edit- Central Fox
- Minuto Cero
- Última Vuelta
- La Última Palabra
- 90 Minutos de Fútbol
- El Show de la Fórmula 1
- Fox Sports Radio (Peru, Colombia, Chile and Uruguay)
- Expediente Fútbol
- Máxima Velocidad
- 5ta a Fondo
- Stop and Go
- Invierno Fox Sports
- Atlas, la Otra Pasión
- Fox Sports Clásico
- EuroGol
- Car News TV
- Nunca es Tarde
- Rally On Board
- Circuito Fox Sports
- Más Motor
- Recta Principal
- Motociclismo Extremo
- Show Red Bull
- World Touring Car Championship: Inside WTCC
- La Última Palabra
- Car and Travel
- Pasión Xtrema
- Fox Sports Show
- Futsal AFA
- Fox Gol Colombia
- Sín Anestesia
- PokerStars.net
- Full Tilt Poker
- El Show de las Copas
- El Show de la UEFA Champions League
- X-perience Tour
- Arena mix
- De Gira
- Fox Fit
Personalities
editNorth feed
editÁlex Aguinaga
Alberto Lati
Carlos Cabrera
Ernesto del Valle
Fabián Estay
Luis Mario Sauret
Marcelo Rodríguez
Ricardo García Ochoa
Santiago Fourcade
South feed
editMathías Brivio
Julio Ríos
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Company Overview of Fox Latin American Channel, Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
- ^ "Disney creates Espn 5, Espn 6 and Espn 7 in order to discontinue Fox Sports brand in the region". tavilatam.com. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ^ "FOX AND LIBERTY OUTLINE PLANS FOR NEW CABLE VENTURE". Sports Business Journal. Advance Publications. November 1, 1995. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "TCI, LIBERTY AND NEWS CORP. HAMMER OUT SPORTS NET DETAILS". Sports Business Journal. Advance Publications. May 10, 1996.
- ^ "Hicks Muse, Fox Sports in Spanish-language sports venture". Dallas Business Journal. February 5, 2002. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
- ^ "SEC filing".
- ^ "Fox Sports inaugurated new studios in Mexico | Superfights". en.superluchas.com. 2010-08-08. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ^ "Fox Chile cerró sus programas más importantes y Rodrigo Sepúlveda analiza el año: "Ha sido duro"". 16 December 2019.
- ^ "La señal Fox Sports deja de emitir desde Uruguay".
- ^ "Eddie Fleischman: Periodista deportivo comunicó que Fox Sports dejará de operar en el Perú". 25 December 2019.
- ^ "Argentina: Fox Sports Premium pasará a ser ESPN Premium". www.anmtvla.com (in Spanish). Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- ^ "Confirmado: Disney lanza Espn 4 en sustitución de Fox Sports" (in Spanish). November 11, 2021.
- ^ "¿Fin de una era? Disney discontinuaría Fox Sports en 2024". Urgente24 - primer diario online con las últimas noticias de Argentina y el mundo en tiempo real (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ^ Amaya, Hernán (2023-11-15). "Latinoamérica: Disney crea Espn 5, Espn 6 y Espn 7 para abandonar definitivamente la marca Fox Sports en la región". TAVI (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "Fox Sports 2 será descontinuado de Centroamérica en Junio". TVLaint (in Spanish). May 17, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ "Tune In: Rolex 24 At Daytona". IMSA.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.