Two of the worst-kept secrets in the US sports media this year are, one, that FOX will be launching FOX Sports 2 this summer, and two, that FOX Soccer is going to be shut down in early September, to be replaced by FXX, a sister channel to FX. Despite plenty of press speculation, FOX Sports has tiptoed around both topics and has never publicly confirmed either of the two stories. Until now.
In a post on FOXSoccer.com entitled All about FOX Soccer, FOX Sports 1, you would expect that FOX Sports would finally come out and definitively answer the question regarding the future of FOX Soccer. But incredibly, despite a Q&A featuring 11 questions, the article neither asks or answers the question about FOX Soccer’s future, even though everyone knows the truth.
But what the article does let slip is the first formal acknowledgement that FOX Sports 2 will be launching in the near future. Here’s what FOX said about FOX Sports 2:
“FOX Sports 2 is an extension of FOX Sports 1 that features live coverage of sporting events and connects with fans through entertaining studio shows and original programming.”
While it isn’t revealing, at least FOX Sports is finally publicly announcing that FOX Sports 2 is a reality. No date was mentioned. However, we do know that SPEED will become FOX Sports 1 on August 17. FOX Soccer will become FXX in early September, and Fuel TV is reported to become FOX Sports 2 on August 17.
Other than accidentally leaking that FOX Sports 2 is coming soon, the only other newsworthy item in the article is confirmation that FOX Sports 2 will show UEFA Champions League matches (in addition to those matches being spread across FOX Sports 1, FOXSoccer2Go and FOX Soccer Plus).
The article on FOXSoccer.com does confirm what we already know, which is that FOX Soccer2Go and FOX Soccer Plus will continue. And that FOX will pull the plug on FOX Soccer News to be replaced by FOX Soccer Daily, a new daily show to debut on FOX Sports 1 on August 19.
