Will Fox Sports 1 Be News Corp's (NWSA) Next Multibillion Dollar Touchdown?

News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) will launch its new national sports network on August 17th. The new network, dubbed Fox Sports 1, is a clear attempt to cut into share of sports juggernaut ESPN (NYSE: DIS), and follows similar efforts by CBS (NYSE: CBS) and NBC. Interestingly, the start date coincides with the beginning of the college football season.

The efforts have many wondering if News Corp. will do to sports what Fox has accomplished in broadcast News. For now, however, expectations are subdued, and News Corp and analysts are both tamping down expectations.

News Corp COO Chase Carey said "We're not trying to beat ESPN. That wouldn't make sense.” However, Carey added, “We've proven over the years we can do some interesting and exciting things."

Commenting on the development, Wells Fargo analysts said, “NWSA will repackage the broadly distributed SPEED channel, but there will be likely be ramp costs resulting in short term losses but nothing like the launch of a new channel from scratch. The costs are expected to be 'very manageable' as Fox Group ramps up its fees until the sports network becomes a multibillion dollar business 'a few years down the road'.

Newscorp is in the process of a Fox Group spinoff.

Wells Fargo has an Outperform News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA).

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