How hard is Fox trying to give ESPN a run for its money with the launch of its new sports network? Enough to drop a boatload of cash for the rights to two sports that will occupy the new net. One deal is an extension of its existing NASCAR bid. The other brings golf to Fox for the first time.
In case you haven’t seen the ads, and it’s hard to know how you couldn’t, Fox’s Speed channel converts into Fox Sports 1 on Saturday. So in order to make this gambit work, marquee sports need to be added. Hence the latest rights deals.
Fox already has an existing contract with NASCAR and had already inked an 8-year extension that starts in 2015. But it offered up an undisclosed amount to extend the deal for an additional two years, and pick up three more Sprint Cup races.
Those races are the first three of six that currently air on TNT, and include the late June clash at Sonoma Raceway. The second group of three currently on TNT have already been acquired by NBC. Beginning in 2015, Fox will air the season’s first 16 races, nine on its broadcast network, and the remaining seven on Fox Sports 1.
Fox also gets the rights to the first 14 Nationwide Series races each season, with NBC taking over for the second half.
This move has been expected ever since ESPN and TNT, two of the current three rights-holders, announced they weren’t re-upping with NASCAR. But this next deal was a bit of a surprise.
Also in ’15, Fox becomes the sole broadcaster for the USGA’s US Open. Currently ESPN airs the first two rounds, while NBC takes over on the weekend. Since the peacock is in the same boat as Fox, in that it’s trying to have its NBC Sports Network compete with ESPN, one might have expected that it would’ve outbid Fox for this deal, to keep the tournament on its broadcast network and add the early rounds to the cable outlet.
But Fox swooped in and took the tourney away from everyone, a surprise move given that it’s never aired golf.
The amount wasn’t disclosed, but it includes the Senior and Women’s Opens, the USGA’s national amateur championships, and international team events. There will be a total of 146 hours of golf split between the broadcast network and, you guessed it, FS1.
So 2015 looks to be the year this fledgling network makes its mark. The following year is when Fox says the new channel will start to turn a profit. That’s even though it’s launching without distribution deals on DirecTV, Dish Network, or Time Warner Cable. So it’s got two years to work that out.
By the way, another of Fox’s networks, Fuel TV, will simultaneously be rebranded as Fox Sports 2, a companion to the primary network. Since Fuel is hardly carried anywhere, most of us will have to take Fox’s word.
So it may be a while before ESPN has to start seriously looking over its shoulder, but Fox is definitely shelling out enough to make a run. The NBA may be next. Its current deal with ESPN and TNT expires after the 2016 Finals. With both of them saying no to NASCAR, it may be a prime opportunity for Fox to swoop in again and grab another new sport, one that’ll make FS1 more valuable.
Don’t touch that dial. It could get interesting.
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