JUST IN TIME FOR the run up to the Daytona 500 Fox Sports today announced the re-branding of SPEED International, its motor sports and automotive network in Canada and the Caribbean, as FOX SPORTS RACING.
The new channel will deliver additional motor sports and big-event competition programming for 2015 and beyond.
“We’ve put the power and influence of the FOX Sports brand behind our commitment to motor sports,” said Eric Shanks, president and COO/executive producer of FOX Sports, in a release. “With highly anticipated NASCAR and MotoGP seasons about to get underway, and several other popular series up and running, FOX SPORTS RACING is now the hub for a vast and diverse community of passionate race fans.”
The former Speed channel was rebranded in 2013 in the United States to Fox Sports 1 – as a competitor to ESPN, leaving the Speed brand to just the Canadian and Caribbean markets. Several distributors in Canada then dropped Speed from their channel lineups. With a new brand, new content, and new marketing push behind it, Fox hopes the carriers who dropped Speed will find a place in their lineups again for a new motorsports and racing channel.
FOX SPORTS RACING returns to Rogers in Canada, beginning Friday, February 20, just in time for a live airing of the season-opening NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES race from Daytona International Speedway at 7:30 PM ET. Additionally, FOX SPORTS RACING continues to be available to pay-TV subscribers in the Caribbean, reads the release.
With a 2015 schedule that includes 785 events and nearly 900 hours of competition-driven programming, the FOX SPORTS RACING lineup is highlighted by a full season of live NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing, practice and qualifying sessions from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series events; the MotoGP World Championship and its support series MOTO2 and MOTO3; Monster Energy Supercross; Tudor United Sportscar Championship; ARCA Racing Series; and the inaugural season of the FIA Formula E Championship, which makes its North American debut on March 14 in Miami.
FOX SPORTS RACING also is home to Street League Skateboarding, Burton Snowboarding, The Jockey Club and the Masters Agility Championship At Westminster.
For a look at the complete FOX SPORTS RACING programming lineup, please visit: www.FOXSportsRacing.com.
