foxsports.com

No other network has had as large of an impact on the way viewers perceive and consume television as Fox. In fact, it can often be difficult to think about television without thinking about what Fox has been doing. Their roster is practically unrivaled and their long-term success is a testament to the quality of their programming. Some people have found the name Fox to be polarizing because of the way their news programming portrays conservative viewpoints. The Fox network as a whole is known for having shows with a conservative viewpoint, like Fox and Friends. Some people compare the network to an unofficial news network for the Republican party in the United States, because President Trump often praises it and public figures like Ann Coulter often appear on Fox News segments.

Regardless of your political affiliation, it is important to acknowledge that Fox is much more than just a news outlet and a political platform. They also have a hand in the creation of films (such as 20th Century Fox), great television shows (like Mad Men), and sports (such as the NFL). These various aspects of society are all united by one common goal: to entertain.

Although technically a news outlet, Fox Sports does not have a lot of political bias when it comes to reporting on sports entertainment. Of course, there are political matters that sometimes bleed into sports (kneeling for the anthem, etc.), but on the whole, one's political affiliation usually has little to no bearing on one's ability to report on what team won a matchup.

Sports can be considered unbiased when it comes to journalism, as a team either wins or loses. Points are either scored or they are not. This eliminates any room for opinion, which means even if you're a left-winger, if you're also a sports fan, you might be surprised to find that you can enjoy Fox Sports just as much as a full-fledged member of the GOP. Ignoring Fox Sports would leave out a majority of major NFL, NBA, NASCAR, and WWE broadcasts - all of which air exclusively on Fox Sports channels.

History

The Fox Sports brand refers to a whole network of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and commentary all around the world which are fully or partially owned by the estate of TV magnate Rupert Murdoch. The majority of the Fox Sports networks are owned and maintained solely by the Fox Corporation, with a few exceptions: Australian operations are overseen by News Corp Australia, and the remaining international Fox Sports entities are owned by the Walt Disney Corporation. In addition to these, regional operations and Fox College Sports are managed by the Diamond Sports Group - a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios. Disney sold the rights to these to this pair on August 23rd, 2019. Disney announced on December 14th, 2017 that it will be acquiring 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. This acquisition would include many key Fox assets, such as the film studio, FX Networks, National Geographic, and its regional sports networks. The remaining Fox networks - Fox News Channel and non-regional sports networks - were rolled into an independent operation run by the Murdoch family.

Design

Although some sports websites can get a little too full of themselves, Fox Sports? neutral design allows the sports reporting to shine. It is sparse and paired down, leaving plenty of room for the news content to be noticed. A lot of other sports websites can overdo it with their flashy designs, making it seem like they are more interested in being trendsetters than informing their readers. Fox Sports remains true to its purpose as a news site that only covers sports journalism and does not try to be something it's not. I generally like news sites to be more minimalist in nature. That's precisely what Fox Sports has crafted with this site. When I go to a news site, I want to get straight to the information - no-frills, nothing fancy, just sports news. And furthermore, I want those news stories to be well organized and easily accessible. And Fox Sports is just that. Everything is easy to find, the main stories of the day are prominently featured, and there is a solid blend of text, video, and images.

One of the things I like best about Fox Sports is the menu bar at the top of the page, which is always present no matter what you're clicking into on the site. Here, you can browse by league (NFL, MLB, NCAA Football, NASCAR, Boxing, Soccer, NBA, and NCAA Basketball) and find comprehensive and useful dropdown menus for more specific specifications (team stats, players, etc.). I haven't found a sports news site that's this well organized yet - so kudos to Fox Sports!

Content

We have already begun discussing all that Fox Sports has to offer, in terms of specific sports and league coverage. Within each sport that Fox lets you choose from, you can track your favorite teams, players, divisions, scores, playoffs rankings, news, etc. Basically, if there is anything relevant about any sport or any team within a given sport, Fox Sports has coverage on it. This is easily one of the most dependable and frequently updated sports news sites on the web. But that's not all that Fox Sports has to offer. In addition to breaking sports news, you have the option to watch original Fox Sports programming, either live or streamed after the fact. Please note that watching live Fox Sports broadcasts (and some of the prerecorded ones) will require you to log in with a cable provider account. That being said, there is some free to stream prerecorded content to enjoy even if you don't have cable. Oh, and if you register as a Fox Sports user, you can customize your experience by tracking all of your favorite teams.

Mobile and Desktop Experience

I?ve already laid out some of the reasons I love Fox Sports? desktop experience. However, how does this site fare when it comes to smartphone or tablet access? Well, the site is actually just as well-designed and optimized for smartphone browser access, which is a breath of fresh air. That being said, though, there is no real reason to access Fox Sports through Safari or the Chrome app when Fox Sports has its own app. You can access Fox Sports content through three different apps: Fox Sports, Fox Sports Go, and Fox NOW (subscription methods and rates vary). It's always nice when a site offers several different options for mobile experiences, but I think the original basic Fox Sports app could be improved a bit. It's a little clunky to navigate and not quite as seamless as cleanly organized and open as the desktop site. That explains the app's relatively low average user rating on the Apple App Store of 3.9 stars (out of 5).

Pricing and Plans

To watch Fox Sports live, you need to have a cable provider. This is how you can watch Fox Sports broadcasts after they have aired. However, as I'm sure you know, this is a difficult task when many people are abandoning traditional cable providers in favor of "cutting the cord."

Suggestions that I have for Fox Sports

It would be nice if Fox had a subscription option that allowed users to watch full episodes after they air (live viewing would be better, of course). I don't want to have to sign up for a cable subscription in order to watch Fox Sports programs.