Fox to officially Challenge ESPN (LAUNCHES TOMORROW w/ UFC from Boston)

[Moranis]

Fox has finally announced one of the worst kept secrets in sports that on August 17th, Speed will officially become Fox Sports 1 (FSN 1) and Fuel will likely become FSN 2. 

FSN 1 will launch with a live UFC event and be a big home for the UFC (most of the FX and Fuel related content will be moved to FSN 1).  In addition to the UFC events, FSN 1 will also have a ton of content and live events for college football and basketball, MLB, soccer, and NASCAR (you know basically all of the sports that Fox has minus of course the NFL which will stay on the main network).

There are a bunch of articles all throughout the web, but here is one from Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbelzer/2013/03/05/fox-sports-1-poised-to-take-on-espn-and-nbc-sports/

[Roy H.]

Sounds great for sports fans. 

[CoachBo]

Nice to see a challenge to the Worldwide Exaggerator.

[ronaldo943]

Yup i agree this is great for sports fans maybe not for ESPN though 

[cltc5]

Oh praise jeebus, i no longer will be forced to listen to the idiot baffons like steven a smith, and the other bumbles anymore....WOOOHOOOO!

[BballTim]

Sounds great for sports fans.

  And NASCAR fans.

[Lord of Mikawa]

I don't see this affecting the NBA much. Any more free games on TV and League Pass won't sell.

[jambr380]

If it is going to be 'heavy' in NASCAR and UFC, then I will be pretty disappointed. If, however, they are able to have a decent amount of MLB and NBA, and have a decent competitor to Sportscenter, then this could be huge for them...

Frankly, I watch NBA network more than ESPN these days anyway...

[CelticG1]

I only really watch ESPN for actual sports games.

I really can't stand any of there other programming.

Sportscenter is just brutal

[Eddie20]

If it is going to be 'heavy' in NASCAR and UFC, then I will be pretty disappointed. If, however, they are able to have a decent amount of MLB and NBA, and have a decent competitor to Sportscenter, then this could be huge for them...

Frankly, I watch NBA network more than ESPN these days anyway...

I would love it to be heavy into MMA, and not just the UFC.

[ScottHow]

I watch espn for the highlights of other games. Once they start "analyzing" the sports, I change the channel.

[Moranis]

If it is going to be 'heavy' in NASCAR and UFC, then I will be pretty disappointed. If, however, they are able to have a decent amount of MLB and NBA, and have a decent competitor to Sportscenter, then this could be huge for them...

Frankly, I watch NBA network more than ESPN these days anyway...

I would love it to be heavy into MMA, and not just the UFC.

Fox signed a 7 year deal with the UFC.  It will be the UFC and the UFC only.  Apparently they are going to have Wednesday night live fights (as well as the occasional Saturday ones) and will have UFC Tonight on that night. 

I suspect during the summer they will be pretty heavy into MLB.  The weekly game will still be on Fox on Sunday, but I suspect they will have some games during the week (not when TBS and ESPN have them but other nights).  Fox is also getting a lot more into college football so this network will probably have a lot of that college football (no longer on FX and they will have national games instead of all the regional stuff).

Fox pretty much has two full time soccer channels, but they are much more limited in reach, so I would guess that all of the major games will be on FSN 1.

[Donoghus]

Love to see any competition thrown at ESPN who I feel has gotten too powerful over the past decade or so.  Building up meaningful sports properties will be a must.  Getting the so-called Catholic 7 is a good start.  The MLB and college football will help.

I just hope that the focus is actually on sports more than the entertainment factor that has seemingly seeped in everywhere at ESPN although I do enjoy the 30 on 30 series.

[Moranis]

http://news.yahoo.com/fox-sports-network-debut-august-190301583--spt.html

some of the programming notes described

To do that, Fox executives are confident they have enough live events, with rights to college basketball and football, NASCAR, soccer and UFC fights. In its first year, the new network will broadcast nearly 5,000 hours of live competition and news.

Fox owns rights to many Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA basketball and football games. Its soccer deals include UEFA Champions League and the men's and women's World Cups from 2015-22.

Starting in 2014, FS1 will start broadcasting Major League Baseball games, including part of the postseason. It will show some NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races as early as 2015, with other NASCAR events on the air from the startup.

It looks like the Big East (you know the Catholic 7 + Butler and Xavier) will also air games on the network.

[CelticConcourse]

What's a 'ESPN'?