Fox Sports’ TV channels, online channels and apps will be rebranded ESPN in the Netherlands on January 1, 2021.
The name change is the result of last year’s acquisition of the majority stake in Eredivisie Media & Marketing (EMM) by The Walt Disney Company. All competitions and programmes that can be currently seen on Fox Sports will continue to be available on ESPN. The board of EMM is formed by Marco de Ruiter and Frank Rutten.
Commenting on the development on behalf of EMM, Ruiter said: “ESPN has been known worldwide for more than 40 years for the high-quality standard of live sports reporting, on all available platforms.
“Above all, ESPN is renowned for its ‘storytelling’, both in live recordings and in original programming. The result is an impressive collection of award-winning sports films and documentaries”.
Meanwhile, Rutten spoke of of “a new milestone in EMM’s 12-year history” since the launch of Eredivisie Live in 2008 and the subsequent transformation to Fox Sports in 2013: “We are proud of the development we have gone through. The fact that we now join the worldwide ESPN family with our Dutch channels, spread over more than 60 countries and seven continents, offers plenty of new opportunities for further growth. With access to the richly filled ESPN film archive and the international news network of ESPN, we can serve sports fans in the Netherlands even better, both on TV and online”.
The name change does not imply any changes in the availability and distribution of the channels. ESPN will be available from January 1, 2021 on all TV providers that currently offer Fox Sports. As is now the case, the providers remain responsible for how, and under what conditions, they offer the channels to the public.
