There is soon to be a new worldwide leader in sports. They have taken a number of personalities from ESPN and they are constantly growing. They are Fox Sports and if you haven’t already started watching some of their shows you probably will some time soon.
Several of ESPN’s biggest names have been moving on from the network to Fox Sports simply because ESPN has a history of keeping their personalities away from star status to maintain power over them. That’s not to say ESPN doesn’t have a group of big names on their programs, they just have trouble keeping some of them. Colin Cowherd left ESPN several years ago to join Fox Sports for more freedom on his radio show and he’d be the first to tell you that as he brings it up from time to time. Skip Bayless left ESPN’s First Take in July for Fox Sports. Bayless will be doing a very similar debate show called “Unidisputed” with Shannon Sharpe. I suppose he was fed up with Stephen A. Smith yelling at him every five minutes. Even Erin Andrews left her seemingly perfect situation on the sidelines of college football’s top games on ESPN to be on NFL sidelines for Fox.
Fox is also airing some of the premiere events in sports. They have a serious stake in the MLB playoffs including every World Series game. Fox dominates NFL on Sundays including a star-studded cast for their pregame show with the likes of Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Jimmie Johnson. The network has broken into college football airing some of the top weekly games in the Pac-12 and Big 12.
The hottest commodity right now for sports networks in the US is no doubt soccer. Not because it gets the best ratings, but because viewership is rising and rising fast. Fox Sports has a tight grasp on Bundesliga, the German national soccer league, as well as many international events. ESPN hosts many of the major events in soccer, such as the World Cup, but networks like Fox Sports and NBC Sports air the premier leagues around the soccer world.
Even if you don’t believe that Fox Sports will soon be atop the sports world, there is no doubt that ESPN is falling form the ranks. Former SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick, who now has a radio show on NBC Sports, often refers to the network as “the Mothership”. He’s poking fun at ESPN and their need to control much of what happens behind the scenes. Patrick has spoke about how ESPN would sensor many of his and costar Keith Olbermann by having them stick strictly to the script. He is firm on his stance that Chris Berman will be ESPN’s last iconic star. That is a bit of an exaggeration, but the world of sports broadcasting is certainly becoming more universal.
