Fox Soccer Plus(formerlySetanta Sports) is an Americansports channeldedicated tosoccerandrugby league football.Launched in 2005 by the Irish sports broadcasterSetanta Sportsto offer live and tape-delayed mainstream sports events in theUnited StatesandCaribbean,it was rebranded on March 1, 2010, as a spin-off of the now-defunctFox Soccerafter its ownerNews Corporationacquired the channel and its coverage rights from Setanta in January 2010.[1]
 | |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California,U.S. |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 720p(HDTV) 480i(SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Fox Sports Media Group (Fox Corporation) |
| Sister channels | Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 2 Fox Deportes Big Ten Network |
| History | |
| Launched | April 26, 2005 |
| Former names | Setanta Sports(until February 28, 2010) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Fox Sports app | Watch live |
| FOX.com | Watch live |
| YouTube TV | Internet Protocol Television |
| Hulu TVvia Fox Sports app | Internet Protocol Television |
| FuboTV | Internet Protocol Television |
Despite the September 2013 replacement of Fox Soccer withFXX,Fox Soccer Plus remains operational, although in recent years, the channel has lost many of its key events that had carried over from the Fox Soccer Channel.
History
editLaunched on April 26, 2005, by Setanta Sports, which is based inIreland,the channel had the rights to delayedManchester UnitedandChelseamatches onMUTVandChelsea TV,which were shown in segments within the channel. Any given broadcaster can only gain access to a maximum of two club channels under the current Premier League international TV rights.
As of July 27, 2009 the ownership structure of Setanta Sports North America Limited changed. Setanta Sports North America Limited was owned by Sabloss. Both Setanta Sports Channel Ireland Limited and Setanta Sports North America Limited were licensed by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.[2]
On January 27, 2010, Setanta Sports announced that they had reached an agreement withFox Soccer Channelto transfer rights to select programming (soccer and rugby) that would be effective as of March 1. In addition, Setanta Sports announced that they would "cease" broadcasting the channel in the U.S. and Caribbean on February 28, 2010.[3]The channel was rebranded from Setanta Sports to Fox Soccer Plus on March 1, 2010, at 12:00 a.m. EST.
Coverage rights
editSoccer
editWith the loss of many of its marquee properties, very limited content remained on the channel. As of 2019, Fox Soccer Plus's soccer programming consists of replays ofMajor League Soccergames shown on Fox or FS1, replays ofFIFAevents (although some events from lower level FIFA competitions that Fox holds the rights to are sometimes shown live) and occasionally, games from theLiga MX,Italy'sSerie B,Copa do Brasil,theUEFA Nations League,theCoupe de France,and theCanadian Premier League.
Rugby League
editFox Soccer Plus continues to air rugby league content from Australia and England.
Currently, Fox Soccer Plus airs three of Australia'sNational Rugby Leaguegames per round, all threeState of Origingames (often shown live on FS2 first), all playoff games, and the NRL Grand Final. With the exception of the Origin games, the broadcast source isFox League,which shares the basic video feed fromNine Networkbut inserts its own graphics and commentators, meaning that Fox Soccer Plus viewers do not have the option of the announcers and production values of Nine.
Australian Rules Football
editFox Soccer Plus typically carries four regular-seasonAustralian Football Leaguematches each week, with three of those shown live and one being a replay of the one game a week shown live first on FS2; all playoffs and the Grand Final are carried, along with preseason matches and the AFL Women's league. Fox Soccer Plus coverage comes from bothFox Footyand theSeven Network.
With American-bornMason Coxplaying in the league, most matches featuringCollingwood,Cox's current team, tend to be shown.
Former
editAs Setanta Sports
editSoccer
edit- Shared live rights withESPN2andFox Soccer Channelof the BarclaysPremier League.[4]Matches were broadcast on Saturdays at 10 a.m. ET (a second live match aired on Setanta Xtra and was rebroadcast on the main channel later that day), Sundays at 8:30 a.m. and first-choice of any mid-week matches. Matches from the Saturday 10 a.m. ET timeslot that were not originally shown live on ESPN or Fox Soccer Channel were shown on tape delay in the evening on Setanta Sports.
- Shared live rights withESPN360of liveFootball League Cup.
- Shared live rights withFox Soccer Channelof theUEFA Champions League(Setanta also had some matches delayed to later that night or the following day).
- Shared live rights withESPN360ofFootball League Championship,League OneandLeague Twomatches, including playoffs.
- LiveEuro 2012 qualifiers.Others aired on tape delay either later on in the day, or a few days later if the live broadcast was onpay-per-view.
- Live FrenchLigue 1.
- LiveRussian Premier League.
- Scottish Cup.
- Delayed and LiveScottish Premier Leaguematches. The delayed matches consisted ofOld Firmmatches which aired live at designated bars/restaurants on Setanta Premium. On the rare occasion where neitherCelticnorRangersare on, the game aired live.
- Live international soccer, including friendlies and2010 FIFA World Cupqualification matches.
- Highlights shows for most of the leagues Setanta broadcasts.
Rugby Union
edit- Rugby World Cup.
- LiveGuinness Premiership,rugby unionclub competition of England.
- LivePro14,rugby union clubs of Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.
- LiveHeineken Cup,rugby union club cup competition for 6 top European nations.
- LiveSuper Rugby,rugby union clubs of, then, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. (Teams from Argentina and Japan added in later years)
- LiveIRB Sevens Rugby.
- LiveCurrie Cup,rugby union club cup competition for South Africa.
- Six Nationsrugby union competition on tape delay
- Summer and fall internationals, a mixture of live and tape delayed
- LiveTri-Nations,international Southern Hemisphere rugby union competition.
Other Events
edit- Selected liveGaelic Athletic Associationevents; delayed GAA Championship matches.
- Tape delayedA1GP- Auto racing; "world cup of motorsport"
- Same-day tape delayedSuperleague Formula- Auto racing; fusion of soccer and motorsport
As Fox Soccer Plus
editFox Soccer Plus' coverage of Italy'sSerie Aand France'sLigue 1ended in May 2012, after coverage of both moved toBeIN Sportstarting with the 2012–2013 season.[5]Fox Soccer Plus also had GermanBundesligacoverage until 2020 whenESPNassumed the rights.[6]
Fox Soccer Plus formerly held rights to all major properties in theSANZAARcountries—theTri Nationsinvolving the national teams of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia;Super Rugby,involving franchises from each of these countries; South Africa'sCurrie Cup;and New Zealand'sITM Cup.[7]However, in 2011, Fox Soccer Plus lost broadcasting rights for Super Rugby and Tri Nations toDirecTV.[8]
Fox Soccer Plus no longer has any rights to rugby union, previously the channel had rights to the Europe-wideHeineken Cup,theEnglish Premiershipand thePro12in the Celtic nations and Italy (although RaboDirect Pro 12 League matches were non-existent in Fox Soccer Plus' schedule for the first six weeks of the season).
Availability and other services
editFox Soccer Plus is available nationally onDirecTV[9]andDish Network,[9]and regionally onVerizon FiOS,[9]Charter Spectrum,[9][10]Cablevision,[11]AT&T Uverse,[12]and several streaming services.
When the channel was known as Setanta Sports, it offered theSetanta Sports Xtrachannel at no extra charge to DirecTV customers in case two live events need to be aired simultaneously.
High Definition
editFox Soccer Plus's720pHDfeed is available nationally on DirecTV (part-time),[13]and regionally on Charter Spectrum,[14][10]AT&T U-verse,[12]andCablevision.[15]
Former services
editSetanta Premium
editAs a part of Setanta Sports,Setanta Premiumwas available only to select commercial subscribers for Pay-Per-View events while most are broadcast delayed on the full-time channel.
- Gaelic Athletic AssociationChampionship and League events.
- Scottish Premier League.
- FA Cup.
- Six Nations Championshipin rugby union.
- Euro 2008 qualifiers,international soccer matches.
- FIFA World Cup Qualification,international soccer matches.
- UEFA Champions LeagueandUEFA Cupmatches.
This service charged customers a cover charge of $10–$20 per head, depending on the match.
Setanta Broadband
editDuring its existence as Setanta Sports, Setanta also offered a broadband subscription service,Setanta Broadband,which allowed customers with a high speed internet connection to view some of the Setanta Sports channel content on their computers and includes access to pay-per-view events.Portuguese Ligasoccer was available andPremier Leaguematches were also broadcast starting the 2007–08 season on Setanta Broadband. Broadband customers did not receiveAustralian Football Leaguematches as of July 2008, due to the league's new distribution deal with aussiesport.tv.
References
edit- ^Fox Soccer Plus Kicks Off As Premium, HD Channel On March 1Multichannel NewsJanuary 11, 2010
- ^"BCI: BCI approves Owndership changes at Setanta Sports Channel Ireland and signs 2 new satellite content contracts with Setanta Companies".Archived fromthe originalon June 7, 2011.RetrievedMarch 26,2010.
- ^Setanta Sports USA To Go Dark Feb. 28 - Premium Network, Transferring More Programming Rights To Fox Soccer, Will Also Cease Caribbean OperationsArchivedJanuary 30, 2010, at theWayback MachineMultichannel NewsJanuary 27, 2010
- ^"ESPN Adds Premier League To Soccer Line Up - World Soccer Talk".August 6, 2009.
- ^Al Jazeera to Kick Off Pair of Soccer Channels in U.S. this AugustMultichannel News,May 17, 2012
- ^"ESPN+ to be the new home of the Bundesliga in the U.S. beginning August 2020".bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website.RetrievedSeptember 20,2021.
- ^"Fox SoccerPlusFAQ "(PDF).Fox Cable Networks. April 7, 2010. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on April 15, 2010.RetrievedApril 13,2010.
- ^International Super Rugby Broadcasters
- ^abcdFox Soccer Plus Set to Launch March 1 with DirecTV, Dish Network, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOSArchivedJanuary 18, 2012, at theWayback MachineFox Soccer Plus Press ReleaseFebruary 26, 2010
- ^abBright House adds HD channels to lineupArchivedJune 18, 2010, at theWayback MachineDaytona Beach News-JournalJune 15, 2010
- ^"Fox Soccer Plus on iO TV".
- ^abAT&T U-verse Launches Fox Soccer Plus HDMultichannel NewsFebruary 21, 2011
- ^DIRECTV and its Television Partners Offer More World-Class Soccer Than Ever BeforeArchivedAugust 17, 2010, at theWayback MachineDirecTV Press Release August 10, 2010
- ^Time Warner adds high-def soccer channels in time for World CupSan Antonio Business JournalMarch 19, 2010
- ^"Optimum Cable TV, On Demand Movies, PPV- Optimum TV".www.optimum.com.