Fox Soccer
Headquarters | Houston, Texas |
---|---|
Ownership | |
Owner | 21st Century Fox (Fox Networks Group) |
Sister channels | Fox Soccer Plus |
History | |
Launched | November 1, 1997 |
Closed | September 2, 2013 |
Replaced by | FXX Fox Soccer Plus (namesake) |
Former names | Fox Sports World (1997–2005) Fox Soccer Channel (2005–11) |
Fox Soccer (formerly Fox Soccer Channel & Fox Sports World before that) was an American television specialty channel specializing in soccer, owned by 21st Century Fox, which operated from 1997 to 2013. It formerly broadcast rugby and Australian rules football, but in its final years it was devoted strictly to soccer.
Due to Fox consolidating its cable sports rights on the new general-interest channels Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, and following the loss of United States television rights to broadcast Premier League soccer events to NBC,[1] Fox Soccer was replaced on September 2, 2013, by FXX, an entertainment sister network to FX.[2] The vast majority of the remaining sports programming from Fox Soccer has been moved to Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, which launched on August 17, 2013.[3] Fox Soccer Plus, a spin-off channel which launched in 2010, continues to operate.[4]
History
Launched on November 1, 1997, to March 27, 2005, when it was originally known as Fox Sports World, the channel took its final name March 28, 2005 to July 31, 2011, later dropping the word "channel" from its name on August 1, 2011. to September 1, 2013. Fox Soccer offered its own game programming for United States soccer leagues through arrangements with outside production companies.
Most of Fox Soccer's coverage which originated outside the
The network's soccer coverage was not limited to game play; Fox Soccer aired reruns of Dream Team, a British soap opera that aired in the UK on Fox Soccer's corporate cousin Sky One until 2007 and focused on a fictional Premiership team. The channel also televised a live soccer talk-show, Fox Football Fone-in, featuring viewer calls and predictions for that weekend's Premier League matches. During the Premier League term, Fox Soccer also produced and aired a couple of studio-based shows surrounding its game coverage.[5]
In 2006, Fox Soccer announced that they had dropped coverage of other sports other than soccer. Amongst the leagues dropped were
Fox Sports World originally filled out its schedule with an eclectic mix of programming; among the sports featured (either in anthology form or actual events) were
Until the middle of 2012, the morning hours on non-game days (when the English and European afternoon is timed to in the United States) and some odd afternoon half hours were slotted with paid programming time until additional loops of Fox Soccer News and Sky Sports News were placed in those slots.
The 720p high definition simulcast of Fox Soccer launched in January 2010. The signature promo voice of the network was Jimmy Hodson.
Programming
The channel focused on soccer throughout the world. In the final year, the network's rights included; (all rights have moved to Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2)
United Kingdom
- Premier League (1998-2013): Live and tape-delayed matches[6] each week, plus weekly magazine (Premier League World), preview (Premier League Preview Show, and Matchday) and recap (Premier League Review and Goals on Sunday) shows. Besides matches on Fox Soccer, Fox Deportes and Fox Soccer Plus, up to 3 matches each season were available live free-to-air on Fox. Up to 74 matches each season were sublicensed to ESPN, Inc. Contract ran through May 2013, at which point coverage went to NBC Sports/NBCSN to the present day.
- FA Community Shield, live through August 2017; future editions will be carried on Fox Sports 1 or 2.
- FA Cup through May 2013. Some matches aired on Fox Soccer Plus.
- England under-21 – selected home matches through May 2013. Other home matches aired on Fox Soccer Plus.
- England national football team – selected home friendlies through May 2013 and home qualifying matches for FIFA World Cup 2014 through October 2013 (moved to Fox Sports 1 or 2). Other home matches aired on Fox Soccer Plus.
Australia
- A-League Grand Final. Contract runs through April 2015, will likely move to Fox Sports 2.
- State of Origin series, live coverage, as well as the NRL Grand Final. Other National Rugby League matches will air on Fox Soccer Plus, with other rights moving to Fox Sports 2.[7][8]
Japan
- J. LeagueGambare! weekly highlights package.
United States
- United Soccer Leagues, live coverage of selected matches, including:
- The championship matches of all USL leagues — Premier Development League, and W-League.
- The championship matches of all USL leagues —
- Fox College Sportsmultiplex channels as part of multi-sport deals between various conferences and those channels.
- National Professional Soccer League: Fox Sports World[9][10] began televising a handful of NPSL games in August 2000. Previously, some local Fox regional sports networks had carried NPSL games.
Other events
- UEFA:
- UEFA Super Cup, live coverage through August 2014.
- .
- UEFA Europa League, live coverage for the 2012–2015 seasons plus a highlight show for each round of the competition. Different matches will air live on Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus and Fox Deportes & DirecTV ch. 480–489 in HD.
- CONCACAF:
- CONCACAF Champions League, live coverage including any matches that involve Major League Soccerteams based in the U.S., plus both semifinals and the final, through April 2017.
- Live coverage of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, featuring all U.S. matches plus the final.
- Copa América Centenario, live coverage in 2016.
- FIFA (2015–2022):
- FIFA World Cup 2018 and 2022.
- FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 and 2019.
- FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 and 2021.
- FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021.
- FIFA U-17 World Cup 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021.
- FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022.
- FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022.
- FIFA Club World Cup through December 2012.
Sky Sports News
Fox Soccer picked up the feed from its corporate cousin, Sky Sports News in the United Kingdom. In 2007, Fox Soccer began running the feed live at 2 a.m., noon and 7 p.m. Eastern Time (the 7 p.m. edition moved to Fox Soccer Plus effective September 2010). This arrangement dates back to its days as Fox Sports World, and offers updated soccer news throughout the day (along with coverage of other international sports such as rugby, cricket and British horse racing.), along with the morning rundown of English newspaper sports pages.
During the international off-season from May–August 2010 the 2am simulcast of the 7am GMT hour was replaced with a tape-delayed broadcast of
All simulcasts of Sky Sports News were discontinued on July 1, 2013, as Fox Soccer began their wind-down of operations, with Fox apparently deciding not to carry the program over to either Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, or Fox Soccer Plus.
Fox Soccer Report and Fox Soccer News
From September 2002 to August 16, 2012, Fox Soccer's flagship studio program was Fox Soccer Report (originally Fox Sports World Report), anchored by Michelle Lissel, Eoin O'Callaghan and Asa Rehman, with former Scottish amateur footballer Bobby McMahon, produced by the Shaw Media-owned Fox Sports World Canada at the studios of CKND Winnipeg.
After Fox Sports World ceased operations in April 2012, Fox Soccer made similar arrangements with the Canadian sports channel Sportsnet for a replacement program. The Sportsnet-produced Fox Soccer News began airing August 17, 2012, with hosts Brendan Dunlop, Kara Lang, Ben Ennis, and analyst Thomas Rongen; McMahon also moved to Sportsnet and continued with Fox Soccer News, providing continuity between Fox Soccer Report and Fox Soccer News. It aired nightly at 10 p.m. Eastern (or after a live prime-time match – though highlights of that game would not be included because the show is taped), with a few re-airs overnight and during the morning.
With the launch of Fox Sports 1, the program was replaced by an in-house soccer news program,
Past programming
- Argentina: One match every week from the Argentine Primera División, plus the weekly highlights show Fútbol de Primera, through the 2009–10 season.
- Tecos UAG.
- France: Ligue 1 through the 2005–06 season.
- Germany: First Bundesliga through the 2005–06 season.
- Real Madrid or Atlético Madrid, until 2004.
- Netherlands: Eredivisie in the 2004–05 season.
- United States:
- Major League Soccer (2003–2011)
- United States men's national soccer team and United States women's national soccer team: Selected friendlies, until 2012.
- Euro 2000
- FIFA:
- FIFA Confederations Cup, through 2005.
- FIFA U-20 World Cup, through 2005.
- FIFA U-17 World Cup, through 2005.
- Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.
- Other sports
Relaunch as FXX
Fox lost the U.S. television rights to broadcast
Fox Soccer's run ended with a final full run of
See also
References
- ^ a b "NBC secures English Premier League soccer rights". Associated Press. October 28, 2012. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (March 28, 2013). "FX Officially Unveils FXX Channel To Launch In September, New Branding Campaign". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ^ a b "News Corp. may convert Fox Soccer into entertainment network". Los Angeles Times. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
- ^ "All about FOX Soccer, FOX Sports 1". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2013-08-14.
- ^ "Fox Sports on MSN – FSC Programming Guide". Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
- ^ Harris, Christopher (July 22, 2009). "History of Premier League televised on US TV". World Soccer Talk.
- ^ "Live Origin broadcast by America's Fox Sports - NRL.com". NRL.com. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
- ^ Ourand, John (2012-03-12). "Fox Soccer Plus gets rights to rugby leagues". SportsBusiness Daily. Retrieved 2013-06-28.
- ^ Trecker, Jamie (June 3, 2000). "Attendance problems, stadium questions plague Major League Soccer". Sports Business Journal.
- ^ "St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri · Page 48". May 7, 2000.
- ^ U.S. TV limited for La Liga, Serie A – ESPN / AP, 17 August 2012
- ^ Burke, Timothy (2 September 2013). "Watch Fox Soccer Channel Die In The Most Undignified Manner Possible". Deadspin. Retrieved 3 September 2013.