Fox Soccer Plus
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Fox Entertainment Group (21st Century Fox) |
Fox Soccer Plus is an American sports channel dedicated to soccer and rugby. It was formed as a spin-off of the now-defunct Fox Soccer when its owner Fox Entertainment Group re-acquired rights from competitor Setanta Sports USA in January 2010, putting the latter channel out of business. It launched on March 1, 2010.[1]
Despite the September 2013 replacement of Fox Soccer with FXX, Fox Soccer Plus remains operational, supplementing soccer and rugby coverage on sister channels Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2.
Coverage rights
Soccer
The channel airs soccer matches from the UEFA Champions League, England's FA Cup,[1] Germany's Bundesliga, UEFA Europa League, Scottish Premier League and the Australian A-League. Moreover, Fox Soccer Plus has acquired the rights to a handful of English national team matches, for both the senior and junior squads.
Rugby Union
Fox Soccer Plus has picked up rights to major rugby competitions in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Fox Soccer Plus has rights to the Europe-wide Heineken Cup plus England's Aviva Premiership and the Pro 12 in the Celtic nations and Italy (although RaboDirect Pro 12 League matches are non-existent in Fox Soccer Plus' schedule for the first six weeks of the season).
Rugby League
In 2010 it secured the rights to broadcast the 2010 Rugby League Four Nations.[2] As of 2013, they are also broadcasting some National Rugby League and Super League matches, including highlight shows (the syndicated NRL Full Time for the Australian league, Boots N' All for the European league) and full live coverage of both Grand Finals and the State of Origin series. The coverage of these events are "untouched", meaning it includes all pre-match activities and does not obscure the Sky Sports or Nine Network branding.
Australian Rules Football
Fox Soccer Plus has announced that they will continue their coverage of Australian rules football through the 2016 season. The announcement, reported January 16, 2014 on the Australian Football Association of North America website says that Fox Soccer Plus told AFANA that the network will broadcast a minimum of two live games per week in HD and coverage will continue through the end of the 2016 season. The same website post says Fox has also committed to show all playoff matches, leading up to and including the Grand Final. Additional games will air on the Fox Sports 2 network each week but not the Grand Final. [3]
Former
Fox Soccer Plus' coverage of Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1 ended in May 2012, after coverage of both moved to BeIN Sport starting with the 2012-2013 season.[4]
Fox Soccer Plus formerly held rights to all major properties in the SANZAR countries—the Tri Nations involving the national teams of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia; Super Rugby, involving franchises from each of these countries; South Africa's Currie Cup; and New Zealand's ITM Cup.[5] However, in 2011, Fox Soccer Plus lost broadcasting rights for Super Rugby and Tri Nations to DirecTV.[6]
Carriage
Fox Soccer Plus is available nationally on DirecTV[7] and Dish Network,[7] and regionally on Verizon FiOS,[7] Time Warner Cable,[7] Brighthouse Networks,[8] Cablevision,[9] and AT&T Uverse.[10]
High Definition
Fox Soccer Plus's 720p HD feed is available nationally on DirecTV (part-time),[11] and regionally on Time Warner Cable,[12] Brighthouse Networks,[8] AT&T U-verse,[10] and Cablevision.[13]
References
- ^ a b Fox Soccer Plus Kicks Off As Premium, HD Channel On March 1 Multichannel News January 11, 2010
- ^ International Broadcast Information Rugby League Four Nations official site
- ^ "Fox and TSN Extend Contract to 2016 and New TV Page Debuts". January 16, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
- ^ Al Jazeera to Kick Off Pair of Soccer Channels in U.S. this August Multichannel News, May 17, 2012
- ^ "Fox Soccer Plus FAQ" (PDF). Fox Cable Networks. April 7, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
- ^ International Super Rugby Broadcasters
- ^ a b c d Fox Soccer Plus Set to Launch March 1 with DirecTV, Dish Network, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOS Fox Soccer Plus Press Release February 26, 2010
- ^ a b Bright House adds HD channels to lineup Daytona Beach News-Journal June 15, 2010
- ^ "Fox Soccer Plus on iO TV".
- ^ a b AT&T U-verse Launches Fox Soccer Plus HD Multichannel News February 21, 2011
- ^ DIRECTV and its Television Partners Offer More World-Class Soccer Than Ever Before DirecTV Press Release August 10, 2010
- ^ Time Warner adds high-def soccer channels in time for World Cup San Antonio Business Journal March 19, 2010
- ^ Optimum TV HD Channels
