Fox Sports 1 debuts with auto racing, Fox Sports 2 nowhere to be found

Fox Sports 1, the all new sports network by Fox, made its debut this morning by officially replacing Speed.

Fox Sports 1 has kicked off the festivities with the airing of auto race qualifying runs. The same thing most racing fans watched on the former Speed channel last Saturday morning.

Yes, Fox Sports 1 is a big picture project. Don’t judge the network for another five to 10 years once they can capture other big name sports. Yet with all the self-hype going into this new all sports network that is not ESPN, to have the first day flogged with auto racing seems highly ironic. It comes more across like a sorry plea to Speed channel viewers — “We’re sorry! We still love you and your NASCAR. We promise! Please don’t leave!”

Meanwhile, if Fox Sports 1 is the new golden prize of Fox Sports, then Fox Sports 2 is the bastard stepchild. By design, the press for Fox Sports 2 has been minimal, if non existent, and finding the bitch is nearly impossible. You sure won’t find it anywhere on the Fox Sports website.

Again, by design, Fox Sports 2 is more or less a spillover channel for Fox Sports 1. And they want all eyes on Fox Sports 1 today, and understandably so. Yet by doing it this way, they are already telling everyone that Fox Sports 2 doesn’t matter. Not the best way to introduce a new brand, in my opinion.

Would have been better off saving the Fox Sports 2 launch for when they had a useful reason for its existence. From the way it appears now, when they will eventually need Fox Sports 2, it won’t be much different then finding your local Comcast SportsNet Plus channel.