Fox is seeking to put baseball back on the Fourth of July, a new edition of SportsCenter is coming to Disney+, a former Venu exec is running Fox’s DTC product, and MotoGP has a new home.
Fox seeking July 4 MLB games
Fox Sports is in talks with Major League Baseball to add coverage of an MLB games on Independence Day beginning this season, according to John Ourand of Puck News. Notable games currently scheduled include Mets-Yankees, Cardinals-Cubs, and Astros-Dodgers.
The league has not traditionally scheduled national television windows on the holiday in recent years, especially since ESPN scaled down its weekday coverage with its current rights deal. As traditional Independence Day activities do not tend to feature communal television viewing, MLB games would be unlikely to receive the same out-of-home ratings boost associated with other holidays (such as the NFL on Thanksgiving).
ESPN launches Disney+-exclusive “SportsCenter”
ESPN announced Thursday it will create a new daily edition of SportsCenter to stream exclusively on Disney+ beginning Monday. The show, titled “SC+”, will be live at 9 AM ET, and available on-demand throughout the day. The exact length of the show was not announced, but the format is expected to be “fast-paced”, “concise”, and “streamlined”.
Morning SportsCenter anchors Gary Striewski and Randy Scott will host on weekdays, with Hannah Storm and Jay Harris on weekends.
The show joins a growing lineup of ESPN studio content available directly to Disney+ subscribers, including College GameDay and Pardon the Interruption. The show will not be available on ESPN+.
Fox taps former Venu exec for DTC product
The CEO of Fox’s upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming product will reportedly be Pete Distad, who was previously in charge of the abandoned Venu Sports project. Distad brings experience with direct-to-consumer streaming from his time with Apple and Hulu. Technical infrastructure from Fox was being used to build the Venu Sports platform, which was dropped last month after lengthy legal proceedings surrounding antitrust litigation.
The unnamed Fox streaming product is set to unify all of the company’s brands (sports, news, and entertainment). No pricing or launch date has been revealed, although its expected Fox would want to have the offering available before football season. The upcoming product will remain separate from Tubi, Fox’s free streaming platform, and Fox Nation, the Fox News Channel-adjacent paid content library.
MotoGP inks deal with Fox Sports
Fox Sports has reached a multiyear US media rights agreement with MotoGP, it was announced Wednesday. The international motorcycle racing circuit will have 22 events televised on FS1, FS2, and Fox Business Network beginning with the Thai GP this weekend at 3 AM early Sunday morning on FS1. An exact broadcast schedule was not announced, but the release did not indicate any races will air on the Fox broadcast network.
MotoGP is the latest in a slew of recent rights additions for Fox Sports, including LIV Golf and the IndyCar series, which will also debut on Fox this weekend. MotoGP races were most recently carried by NBC Sports from 2020-2024.
