Fox Sports New Orleans


Fox Sports New Orleans is an American regional sports network that is owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operated as an affiliate of Fox Sports Networks. The channel broadcasts local coverage of professional and collegiate sports events within New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.
Fox Sports New Orleans is available on cable providers throughout Louisiana, East Texas, the Florida Panhandle, and parts of Mississippi and Alabama, with an estimated regional reach of 2.5 million households with a pay television subscription; it is also available on satellite via DirecTV and Dish Network.

History

The formation of Fox Sports New Orleans was announced on June 25, 2012, after Fox Sports Networks signed a new long-term agreement with the New Orleans Hornets to broadcast the NBA team's games. Fox acquired the regional cable television rights to the Hornets after Cox Sports Television declined to renew its contract with the team. The channel launched on October 31, 2012, at the start of the New Orleans Hornets regular season that year; Fox Sports New Orleans broadcast 75 Hornets games during the first year of the team's agreement with the channel.
On December 14, 2017, as part of a merger between both companies, The Walt Disney Company announced plans to acquire all 22 regional Fox Sports networks from 21st Century Fox, including Fox Sports New Orleans. However, on June 27, 2018, the Justice Department ordered their divestment under antitrust grounds, citing Disney's ownership of ESPN. On May 3, 2019, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios bought Fox Sports Networks from The Walt Disney Company for $10.6 billion. The deal closed on August 22, 2019.

Programming

In addition to carrying the Pelicans' exhibition, regular season and early-round conference playoff games, Fox Sports New Orleans also airs Major League Baseball games featuring the Texas Rangers and select broadcasts of the NHL's Dallas Stars televised by sister channel Fox Sports Southwest, as well as collegiate sporting events from the Big 12 Conference and Southeastern Conference.
In 2014, Fox Sports New Orleans began airing select Tulane Green Wave college football games, beginning with the September 9 matchup against the Duke Blue Devils. From its foundation, it also reported that the channel would negotiate for the television rights to the New Orleans Saints' team-related programs and events involving the LSU Tigers. While they were successful in acquiring some LSU Tigers sports programming such as Tigers football, basketball, and volleyball, attempts to acquire Saints-related programming were unsuccessful.
On June 16, 2018, FSNO carried a group-stage game in the FIFA World Cup between the Argentina and Iceland teams. Local Fox affiliate WVUE-DT chose not to carry the game due to a Federal Communications Commission requirement to air E/I programs which it chose not to reschedule.

Notable on-air staff

Current