ESPN rebrands in Asia as Fox SPORTS

After much speculation, News Corp has rebranded “ESPN” channels in Asia as “Fox Sports”. News Corp in partnership with Disney has Sports business running under ESPN STAR SPORTS (ESS). But after News Corp took over complete control of ESS by buying shares of Disney, News Corp was looking to rebrand ESPN channels. Now ESPN would be known as FOX SPORTS, ESPN News as FOX SPORTS NEWS, ESPN HD as FOX SPORTS PLUS HD.

India, which is also major market for ESS would not see immediate rebranding for ESPN as Star India, which would control Sports Broadcast biz in India is giving a thought about whether ESPN should rebranded to STAR channel, or continue with international brand i.e. FOX SPORTS.

My guess is News Corp may decide to rename ESPN to FOX SPORTS for non-cricket sports (mainly Football), while Cricket and some other sports could continue on STAR branded channels like STAR SPORTS and STAR CRICKET.

 
Source: Star to take charge of News Corp’s sports biz in India; rest of Asia to be under FIC