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) |
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]
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] 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]
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.
Alongside its live sports broadcasts, Fox Sports also aired a variety of sports highlight, talk, and documentary styled shows. These include:
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