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]
History
The 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]
headquarters
Los Angeles, California, United States‡R1R‡
former names
Prime Deportiva (1995–1996) Fox Sports Americas (1996–1999)
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.[12]
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.[13]
In November 2023, Disney announced that on Fox Sports 2 and Fox Sports 3 would reorganize on February 15, 2024 and rebrand to ESPN 6 and ESPN 7, while in Chile, the premium channel would rebrand to ESPN Premium.[14][15]
Feeds
Fox Sports
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
North feed: available in Central America and Dominican Republic
South feed: available in South America
Fox Sports 3
Panregional feed: available in Central America, Dominican Republic and South America
Localised channels
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
Fox 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.
