Fox College Football

Coverage history

Fox Sports Networks (FSN) carried college football from the Pac-10 and Big 12 conferences from its inception to compete with national networks like ESPN. In 2011, FSN added a package of Conference USA games, which were aired exclusively, as simulcasts, or on tape delay on Fox College Sports. Pac-12 games moved from FSN to Fox, FX, and eventually FS1 in 2012, while Conference USA left Fox Sports entirely in 2016. FSN affiliates held third-tier rights to many Big 12 teams until 2020, when ESPN+ acquired those rights for all but two members: Oklahoma Sooners (maintaining a contract with Fox Sports Oklahoma) and Texas Longhorns (with a long-term deal for Longhorn Network). After the sale of FSN to Sinclair Broadcast Group as part of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the networks sub-licensed a Conference USA package from sister network Stadium. The Atlantic Coast Conference's syndication package, produced by Raycom Sports, continued on the networks (now Bally Sports) until 2023, when Bally dropped it amid bankruptcy and Raycom sold the rights to The CW. Fox acquired its first college football telecast in 1998, obtaining broadcast rights to the annual Cotton Bowl Classic; the first game aired on January 1, 1999. Fox renewed the contract in 2010 for four years through the 2013 season. Fox lost the Cotton Bowl rights to ESPN for the 2015 edition, as ESPN holds the television contract for all six College Football Playoff bowl games under a twelve-year deal worth over $7.3 billion; the Cotton Bowl was the only one of those six not previously broadcast by ESPN.