The story
History
Establishment
When the Fox Broadcasting Company launched on October 9, 1986, the network's management, having seen how sports programming (in particular, soccer events) played a critical role in the growth of the British satellite service BSkyB, determined that sports would be the type of programming that would ascend Fox to a major network status the quickest; as a result, Fox tried to attract a professional football package to the network. In 1987, after ABC initially hedged on renewing its contract with the National Football League (NFL) for the television rights to Monday Night Football, Fox made an offer for the package at the same price that ABC had been paying at the time – about $13 million per game. However, partly due to the fact that Fox had yet to establish itself as a major network, the NFL decided to resume negotiations with ABC, with the two parties eventually agreeing to a new contract, keeping what was the crown jewel of the league's television broadcasts on that network (where it remained until 2006, when MNF moved to sister network ESPN as part of a contract that also saw NBC gain the Sunday Night Football package).
Six years later, the league's television contracts for the National Football Conference (NFC) package, American Football Conference (AFC) package, as well as the Sunday night and Monday night packages were up for renewal. Fox placed an aggressive bid for $1.58 billion to obtain the broadcast rights to the NFC package, which for decades had been held by CBS. On December 17, 1993, the NFL selected Fox's bid and signed a four-year contract with Fox to award it the rights to televise regular season and playoff (as well as select preseason) games from the NFC, beginning with the 1994 season; the initial contract also included the exclusive U.S. television rights to broadcast Super Bowl XXXI in 1997. The deal stripped CBS of football telecasts for the first time since 1955.
Fox lured commentators Pat Summerall, John Madden, Dick Stockton, Matt Millen, James Brown and Terry Bradshaw, as well as many behind-the-scenes management and production personnel from CBS Sports to staff the network's NFL coverage. The network's studio coverage originated from the Fox Television Center in Hollywood, California, later moving to the Fox Network Center (located on the 20th Century Fox backlot in Century City) by 1998.
In order to bolster viewership for the NFL telecasts, News Corporation, parent company of Fox at the time, decided to strike affiliation deals with broadcasting companies that owned stations affiliated with ABC, NBC and CBS in order to raise the profile of Fox's affiliate body, which at the time mainly consisted of UHF stations that (with some exceptions) had little to no prior history as a major network affiliate, had weaker signals and largely did not carry as much value with advertisers as the Big Three's affiliates. During the late spring and summer of 1994, Fox reached separate agreements with New World Communications (a media company controlled by investor Ronald Perelman, which Fox's station group Fox Television Stations would purchase in July 1996) and SF Broadcasting (a joint venture between Fox and Savoy Pictures that purchased four stations from Burnham Broadcasting through separate deals in July and August 1994) to switch a total of sixteen stations to Fox between September 1994 and September 1996 as affiliation contracts with those stations' existing network partners expired. The NFL television rights and affiliation deals firmly established Fox as the nation's fourth major network. The network's relationship with the NFL would expand in 1997, when it began airing games and acquired partial ownership of NFL Europe (although the partial ownership ended in 2000), an agreement which ended in 2006 when all games were moved to NFL Network; the by-then renamed NFL Europa closed down the next year.
With a sports division now established, Fox decided to seek broadcast rights agreements with other major sports leagues. On September 9, 1994, Fox was awarded the broadcast television rights to the National Hockey League (NHL) in a $155 million bid (amounting to $31 million annually); as a result, it became the first broadcast network to be awarded a national television contract to carry NHL games, which longtime NHL Commissioner John Ziegler had long thought to be unattainable (NHL games had not aired regularly on a national broadcast network – outside of select championship and All-Star games, and time buy basis airings of ESPN telecasts on ABC from 1992 to 1994 – since NBC's telecast of the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals, as networks were not willing to commit to broadcasting a large number of games due to low viewership). Again, Fox outbid CBS, which wanted to secure the rights as a result of losing the NFL to Fox, for the NHL package. Fox lost the NHL rights to ABC Sports and ESPN in 1999.
MLB, NASCAR and BCS acquisitions
On November 7, 1995, Fox was awarded partial broadcast rights to Major League Baseball (MLB) games, in a shared deal with NBC (which had carried the league's telecasts since 1947). Through the deal, which Fox paid a fraction of the amount ($115 million) that CBS paid to obtain the rights effective with the 1990 season, Fox would broadcast approximately 16 regular season Saturday afternoon games per season (unlike the previous Baseball Network deal between NBC and ABC) and offered different game broadcasts shown on a regionalized basis (usually up to three per week). As part of a six-year renewal of this deal – valued at $2.5 billion – in September 2000, Fox Sports became the exclusive over-the-air broadcaster of Major League Baseball, giving it the exclusive rights to the World Series beginning with the 2000 edition, as well as rights to the All-Star Game, select Division Series games and exclusive coverage of the League Championship Series. Under a clause in the contract (which has not been exercised as there has not been a labor dispute during the term of rights while Fox Sports has held the contract), if some of the scheduled games were cancelled by a strike or lockout, Fox would still pay Major League Baseball for a full slate of annual games, while the league in turn had to compensate Fox with additional telecasts.
In 1998, Fox obtained the broadcast rights to the Cotton Bowl Classic college football game. In 2007, Fox began airing most of the games of the Bowl Championship Series, including the BCS National Championship Game, in a deal worth close to $20 million per game. Due to a separate arrangement between ABC and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, events in the series that were held at the Rose Bowl stadium – such as the Rose Bowl Game and the 2010 BCS Championship – were excluded from the contract.
On November 11, 1999, Fox and sister cable channel FX were awarded rights to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Busch Series as part of NASCAR's first centralized television rights deal, beginning in the 2001 season. The contract covered the first half of the season, with the second half of the season being aired by NBC and TNT. Rights to the Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 alternated annually, with Fox airing the 500 in odd-numbered years, and the 400 in even-numbered years. Fox's first telecast was the 2001 Daytona 500—an event that would be marred by a final-lap crash that resulted in the death of Dale Earnhardt. Later that year, Fox acquired the motorsports cable network Speedvision, and rebranded it in February 2002 as Speed Channel. Fox intended to use the network as an outlet for ancillary NASCAR content. In September 2002, Speed Channel bought out ESPN's contract to televise the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
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Fox lost the broadcasting rights to the Bowl Championship Series to ESPN beginning in 2010. In response, Fox introduced a Saturday "game of the week" on FX in 2011, featuring games from the Pac-12, the Big 12 and Conference USA (the rights to which were later assumed by Fox and Fox Sports 1); Fox also signed deals to carry two new championship games created through conference realignments that occurred in 2010 and 2011: the Big Ten Conference Championship through 2016 (as part of Fox Sports' involvement with the Big Ten Network), and the Pac-12 Championship through 2017 on an alternating basis with ESPN. With the replacement of the BCS with the College Football Playoff, Fox lost the broadcasting rights to the 2015 Cotton Bowl Classic onwards again to ESPN.
Present day
In May 2010, Fox aired the final of the UEFA Champions League, marking the network's first ever soccer broadcast.
In August 2011, Fox Sports announced it had reached a seven-year broadcast agreement with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), ending the mixed martial arts promotion's relationship with Spike. The deal included the rights to broadcast four live events in prime time or late night annually, as well as other UFC programming that would air on various Fox properties, including the Fox network (which aired its first UFC match in November 2011, the first time that the UFC aired an event on broadcast television), FX and Fuel TV. The contract expired in 2019, with the UFC moving its broadcast rights to ESPN.
On October 22, 2011, FIFA announced that Fox Sports had acquired rights to air its tournaments beginning in 2015, including the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, and the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup. In February 2015, Fox's contract was extended to 2026 (which was ultimately awarded to a joint North American bid led by the United States), in what was reported to be compensation for the rescheduling of the 2022 tournament to late-November/mid-December (which will compete with the regular seasons of the NFL).
On August 6, 2013, Fox Sports announced a 12-year deal to broadcast the championships of the United States Golf Association (USGA), including the U.S. Open, beginning in 2015. In 2016, Fox began to air NHRA drag racing events—primarily on Fox Sports 1 and 2, and with selected flagship events airing on Fox proper. On May 12, 2014, Fox Sports announced a 7-year deal to broadcast Major League Soccer (MLS). The deal included the rights to air the MLS Cup on Fox in even numbered years.
On July 24, 2017, the Big Ten Conference announced that it had reached six-year deals with Fox Sports and ESPN to hold rights to its football games beginning in the 2017 season, with Fox's package expanding on its involvement in BTN. As part of the contract, Fox's contract to run BTN was extended through 2032.
On January 31, 2018, the NFL announced that Fox had acquired the sub-license for its Thursday Night Football package under a five-year deal, beginning in the 2018 NFL season. The deal is reportedly worth an average of more than $660 million per year. On May 6, 2019, Fox Sports announced a multi-year broadcast deal with the new incarnation XFL, which went on hiatus midway through its first season, but would return in 2023.
In May 2019, Fox Sports partnered with The Stars Group to launch co-branded sports betting operations, including Fox Bet (which offers real-money sports betting where legal), as well as the free football prediction game Fox Sports Super 6. As part of the partnership, Fox Corporation acquired a 4.99% minority stake in the company for $236 million, with an option to increase its stake to up to 50% within the next 10 years. The partnership made Fox the first major U.S. sports broadcaster to establish a sports betting operation, taking advantage of the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. With the company's sale to Flutter Entertainment, Fox would have an option in 2021 to acquire an 18.5% stake in its U.S. subsidiary FanDuel Group.
In June 2020, Fox exited its contract with the USGA and sold the remainder to previous rightsholder NBC. In June 2021, it was announced that Fox would be a minority investor in a new iteration of the United States Football League (USFL), which would operate as a successor to The Spring League.
In November 2021, it was announced that Fox Sports had acquired English-language rights to UEFA national team matches under a six-year deal from 2022 to 2028, replacing ESPN. This includes the UEFA Nations League beginning in June 2022, tournaments such as UEFA Euro 2024 and 2028, UEFA qualifiers for Euro and the FIFA World Cup, and UEFA-organized friendlies. In January 2022, Fox announced that it would sub-license portions of this package to FuboTV, focusing on the Nations League and selected matches from the European Championships. In January 2022, Fox Sports reached an agreement with the New York Racing Association for the rights to the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the horse racing triple crown, through 2030.
On February 6, 2024, Fox Sports announced a joint venture with ESPN Inc. and TNT Sports, named Venu Sports, that would include the three organizations' main linear sports channels and associated media rights, beginning in fall 2024. The service was ultimately cancelled.
On June 13, 2024, Fox Sports announced a multi-year deal to be the sole broadcaster of the IndyCar Series and its subsidiary series Indy NXT. On January 16, 2025, Fox Sports announced a multi-year deal with the Saudi PIF-backed LIV Golf, replacing The CW's sports division as its broadcaster.
On July 17, 2025, Fox Sports announced a content partnership with Barstool Sports and its founder Dave Portnoy, under which Barstool will produce a new daily studio program for FS1, Portnoy and other Barstool personalities will make appearances on Fox's college football pre-game show Big Noon Kickoff, and the two units will also co-develop new digital content.
2013 cable reorganization
Fox Sports Media Group formally announced the replacement of Speed with Fox Sports 1 on March 5, 2013, with the network eventually launching on the tentative date of August 17, 2013. The network would air content from Major League Baseball, the UFC, NASCAR, soccer (including the FIFA World Cup) and multiple college sports events (including owning rights to Big East basketball and its annual postseason basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden). The network launched Fox Sports Live as a competitor to ESPN's SportsCenter, with the former described as a "24/7 news franchise providing around-the-clock coverage through regularly scheduled programs, hourly updates and an information-rich ticker that provides a network agnostic sports event television schedule." Notable personalities on FS1 include Regis Philbin, Mike Tyson, Michael Strahan, Erin Andrews, as well as many others. The international feed of Speed would eventually be replaced with Fox Sports Racing on February 20, 2015.
On August 17, 2013, the extreme sports-focused Fuel TV was rebranded as Fox Sports 2, a companion network serving primarily as an overflow channel for Fox Sports 1, along with providing supplementary sports coverage.
On September 2, 2013, Fox Soccer was replaced by FXX, an entertainment-based sister network to FX with a focus on comedy programming. With the concurrent shutdown and replacement of the network, Fox Soccer's sports programming was shifted over to Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2. As a result, outside of very rare sports conflicts on both Fox Sports networks, FX no longer carries any sports programming. Fox Soccer's companion premium service, Fox Soccer Plus, continues to exist and supplements soccer coverage on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2.
2001–2003
By 2001, the score bug was restructured as a horizontal header positioned at the top of the screen, and was simpler than later versions. It was first utilized that year on Fox's NASCAR coverage with the introduction of a new updated graphics package that was based on the 1998 design; the bug and updated graphics were then utilized on the network's Major League Baseball and NFL telecasts. It featured a translucent black rectangle, a baseball diamond graphic for baseball broadcasts on the far left, the team abbreviations in white with their scores in yellow boxes (the boxes were white for NFL broadcasts until Super Bowl XXXVI, when the coloring was changed to yellow), then the quarter or inning, time or number of outs, pitch count/speed (used for baseball broadcasts), and the logo of the Fox Sports event property whose game is being telecast (such as NFL on Fox or MLB on Fox) on the far right.
2003–2006
Beginning with the 2003 NFL season, the score bug was upgraded as part of a new graphics package. At first, the team abbreviations were replaced with team logos, and the scores were rendered in white within black parallelograms. Unlike the previous version, the FoxBox would alternate between a black rectangle and several black parallelograms; however, it reverted to being a black rectangle beginning with the 2004 NFL season, and the team logos would later be replaced with abbreviations in the respective teams' primary colors (the colorized team abbreviations would first be utilized on postseason baseball broadcasts that year). Whenever a team scores a point or a run, the team's score and logo would flash a few times.
During baseball broadcasts, the entire bug would flash with the words "HOME RUN" and the team's name in the team's color zooming in to the center from both left and right. In late 2005, a new white bug resembling a chrome finish was introduced, and the team abbreviations became rendered in white letters in the team's main color; the new bug debuted on Fox's coverage of the 2005 World Series, and would then be expanded to NFL and NASCAR broadcasts. Baseball broadcasts continued to use the 2001 score bugs and graphics in 2004 until the network's coverage of that year's postseason.
During NASCAR telecasts from 2007 to 2011, this graphics package was briefly used to weather delay updates and also used for merchandise for the Digger cam. This graphics package was also used during Prelude to the Dream at Eldora from 2005 to 2007.
2006–2010
Beginning with the 2006 NFL season, the score bug was upgraded again. This time, real-time scores from around the league were included as a permanent fixture on the extreme right side of the bar, while the bug's coloring changed to the colors of the team currently in possession of the ball (this coloring scheme was seen only on football broadcasts). The bug no longer flashed after the scoring of runs, touchdowns or field goals. During baseball broadcasts, the diamond graphic appeared in middle-justification and was slimmed down to just the three main bases, unlike other implements which included home plate. This bug, after first being used for NFL broadcasts in 2006, was eventually expanded to Bowl Championship Series, NASCAR and MLB; baseball telecasts, however, continued to use the late-2005 score bugs and graphics in 2007. In 2008, Fox NASCAR introduced a new camera embedded between turns one and two on the various tracks; it was soon known as "Digger Cam", unveiled alongside a gopher mascot named Digger.
In 2009, this graphics package was dropped entirely for Fox's baseball telecasts and replaced with the then-current Fox Sports Net graphics, which had debuted on baseball telecasts across FSN's affiliates that season. The score bug reverted to a rectangular box positioned in the top-left corner of the 4:3 safe area. These were later repositioned for widescreen in July 2010, when Fox Sports began presenting all of its high definition programming content in the 16:9 aspect ratio, with letterboxing on standard definition feeds relayed to pay television providers.
2010–2014
At the beginning of the 2010 NFL pre-season, Fox debuted a new graphics package for its football coverage – an upgraded version of the 2006 design with a "much more colorful 3D look." The new graphics also marked a migration to Vizrt hardware for CG, providing producers with a more streamlined workflow for graphics. The new design would be rolled out for Fox's racing coverage and the Speed network in 2011, at the start of the 2011 MLB season (where both Fox and the FSN networks would begin using it as well, excluding SportSouth games simulcast by WPCH-TV and Root Sports – which used the previous FSN appearance), and on Fox Soccer.
2014–2017
A new graphics package for Fox Sports broadcasts was introduced for Fox's NASCAR coverage leading up to the 2014 Daytona 500. Fox Sports Midwest producer Max Leinwand described the look as being "cleaner" than the previous design. The design has also been used to introduce new design conventions for some of Fox's graphics; for NASCAR, the running order ticker was replaced by a leaderboard-style display that was initially displayed as a vertical sidebar. MLB uses a score bug at the bottom-right (initially at the bottom-left) of the screen instead of the top-left, while NFL utilized a top-left score bug with a vertical layout.
2017–2020
A new graphics package was launched on August 27, 2017, for Fox's first NFL preseason broadcast, featuring a dark flat design scheme, and shifting football to a horizontal score banner along the bottom of the screen (in line with all other NFL broadcasters). Upon its debut, the new football score bug was widely panned by viewers for its basic appearance and small text size. This package was also adopted by Big Ten Network (which had previously used its own separate graphics packages), and was deployed for MLB coverage on Fox and FS1 starting with the 2017 MLB postseason. Fox continues to use Vizrt software, and began to increasingly utilize laptops to run its on-air graphics as opposed to full systems (maintained as backups). The introduction of the package to NASCAR for the 2018 season saw Fox once again adopt a vertical leaderboard for the running order, initially within an opaque sidebar before switching to a translucent design for the Daytona 500.
2020–present
In a move to give its individual properties distinct brands, Fox began to phase the 2017 graphics out in 2020, in favor of bespoke graphics packages for each of its major properties (the prior flat graphics continue to be used for sports properties that do not have dedicated graphics). The first of these packages for football debuted at Super Bowl LIV in February 2020, which featured a theme based on parallelograms, a centered, pod-like scoreboard, and stylized illustrations of key players. It was adopted full-time by subsequent football telecasts, including the subsequent XFL and 2020 NFL and college football seasons.
New graphics were adopted by further properties beginning in 2021, including Major League Baseball (beginning with the 2021 postseason), college basketball (beginning with the 2021–22 season), and NASCAR (beginning with the 2022 season, similarly incorporating stylized illustrations similarly to the NFL graphics). In 2023, Fox adopted a "modernized" update to the NFL graphics at Super Bowl LVII, college football diverged with a new theme, and NHRA coverage debuted new graphics during the U.S. Nationals (via the NHRA's partnership with SMT). A new graphics package for collegiate Olympic sports by Drive Studios also debuted in 2024; it was developed primarily for Big Ten Network, and replaces the 2017 graphics on BTN properties outside of basketball and football (which use the same graphics as Fox broadcasts).
From Wikipedia’s article on Fox Sports (United States), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4