ESPN4

ESPN4
CountryBrazil
NetworkESPN International
HeadquartersSão Paulo
Programming
Language(s)Portuguese
Picture format1080i (HDTV)
(downgraded to 16:9 480i for the SDTV)
Ownership
OwnerThe Walt Disney Company Latin America
Disney Branded Television
(Disney International Operations)
History
LaunchedESPN4:
February 5, 2012
ESPN5:
January 24, 2014
ReplacedSpeed
Former namesFox Sports (2012–2022)
Fox Sports 2 (2014–2024)
Links
Websitewww.espn.com.br

ESPN4 is a Brazilian sports channel that was launched on 5 February 2012 as Fox Sports, replacing the Brazilian variant of Speed. A second channel, Fox Sports 2 was launched on 24 January 2014, which continues to use the Fox Sports name temporarily due to contractual obligations. On May 6, 2020 Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE announced that Fox Sports and ESPN Brasil could merge as part of the 21st Century Fox merger with Disney, with it remaining as-is until January 1, 2022 due to its broadcast rights and overall structure.[1]

Fox Sports main channel was rebranded as ESPN4 in Brazil on 17 January 2022, becoming the fourth network among those of the domestic version of ESPN. Fox Sports 2 remained on-air in Brazil under that name until February 15, 2024 and was renamed ESPN5, due to contractual language with CONMEBOL regarding its coverage of the 2022 Copa Libertadores and the retirement of Fox Sports' brand in Latin America (including Brazil).[2][3]

  1. ^ "Cade aprova fusão entre Disney e Fox, e ESPN poderá transmitir Libertadores".
  2. ^ "Exclusivo! Fox Sports ganha data para virar ESPN no Brasil".
  3. ^ Amaya, Hernán (2023-11-15). "Latinoamérica: Disney crea Espn 5, Espn 6 y Espn 7 para abandonar definitivamente la marca Fox Sports en la región". TAVI (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2024-02-09.