Fox ruined the worst kept secret in sports television on Tuesday, announcing plans for a national sports network that launches Aug. 17. News Corp. COO Chase Carey said the key to the new cable network was to "not try to beat ESPN," but the million-dollar question remains: What does Fox Sports 1 have to do to rival the worldwide leader in sports?
ESPN is the 800-pound gorilla of the sports media world, one of the most profitable networks on TV and one of the most successful media companies of the last quarter century. Fox Sports 1 has a chance to do the unthinkable: upset the balance of power.
It has the money and support of parent company News Corp., which has helped use the NFL and other sports rights to turn its broadcast network into an equal of CBS, NBC and ABC.
Fox shocked the sports world in 1993, acquiring the rights to NFL games and luring top broadcasters, such as John Madden and Pat Summerall, from CBS.
