Fox Soccer Channel Morphs Into FOX Soccer

Keen observers will have noticed a small but pivotal change by Fox Soccer Channel in recent months. They’ve been using the name FOX Soccer instead of Fox Soccer Channel.

On the sets they’ve used for the 2011 Champions League Final and Soccer Night In America, as well as the press releases they’ve distributed to media, Fox Soccer Channel has been referring to themselves as FOX Soccer. To some, this may seem like a miniscule change, but I believe it’s an important step forward and the right decision at the right time.

According to a Fox Soccer Channel spokesperson, the network is expected to reveal their new logo and branding this June. It’ll be quite a change for many of us because the current FSC branding is burned on to our retinas. I mean, can you even remember what the Fox Soccer Channel logo looked like before the current one? Or how about the Fox Sports World one (the name the channel used before they became FSC)?

A lot has changed in those years. More recently, Fox has matured. There are still things that the channel does that bothers us, but they seem to be trying to improve. Their acquisition of the Champions League telecasts forced them to dramatically improve their game and to get out of the comfort zone of showing Premier League matches week-in, week-out. Their launch of “Soccer Night In America” on Friday nights has been a positive step forward to improve the way they televise Major League Soccer games.

Instead of referring to themselves as Fox Soccer Channel, they’ll be using the “FOX Soccer” name. While it seems like a small and innocent change, it’s much more important than that. The ‘Channel’ in ‘Fox Soccer Channel’ is unnecessary. What TV networks use the word ‘Channel’ in their name any more? BBC America says it all. “BBC America Channel” would sound silly.

Also, using the word “FOX” in all caps brings them closer to the “FOX” brand. They’ve always been a FOX company, but combining “FOX” with “Soccer” to form “FOX Soccer” is, and sounds, more powerful. On top of that, FOX Soccer rolls off the tongue much easier. It’ll take time for us to adapt to the new name, but it’s shorter (albeit by one word) and has more of a punch. It also encourages people to say or write the name of the network as “FOX Soccer” rather than trying to make it an acronym. While “FSC” has become a staple in this country, it doesn’t do any new sports fans any good if they don’t know what it means and don’t readily have access to Google to figure out what the acronym stands for. FOX Soccer is perfect.

One more advantage of using the name FOX Soccer is the consistency of using the name across everything the network does. FOXSoccer.com is their website. FOXSoccer.tv is their broadband channel. Twitter.com/FOXSoccer is their Twitter feed.

It makes perfect sense to me.

You can see what the new logo and branding looks like in the above promotional video to promote FOX’s Soccer Night In America.

What do you think about the name change? Share your opinions in the comments section below.