Fox League is an Australian

subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but ...

channel dedicated to screening

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

(both domestic and international) matches and related programming. It is owned by

Fox Sports Pty Limited Fox Sports Australia Pty Limited (formerly Premier Media Group Pty Limited) is the division of Foxtel that owns and operates the Fox Sports television networks and digital properties in Australia. The group operates nine Fox Sports Channels as ...

and is available throughout Australia on

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

. The channel was launched on 27 February 2017.

History

On 27 November 2015, the

Australian Rugby League Commission The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

announced that

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

had secured the rights to air all

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

games excluding the

NRL Grand Final The NRL Grand Final determines the champions of the National Rugby League club competition. It is a major sport event in Australia. Since 1999, it has been contested at Stadium Australia in Sydney. The first year it was held at Stadium Australia ...

live for the 2018-22 seasons. Additionally, it was announced that the current rights agreement had been altered to allow Fox Sports to also have the live rights for all games excluding the Grand Final for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, however, a dedicated yet-to-be-named NRL channel to showcase these rights would not launch until the 2017 season. In February 2017 it was announced the new channel would be called Fox League and would officially launch on 27 February 2017. Ultimately, ''Fox League'' replaced

Fox Sports 2 Fox Sports 2 (FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in the Century Cit ...

on channel 502. In 2017, the NRL preliminary finals had 418,000 and 407,000 viewers. In 2020, Fox League began carried in Canada on the pay streaming service

DAZN DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet. The ...

Programming

Event coverage

Sports programming on Fox League includes the following: *

(2017–present; every game live except the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

) *

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

(2017–present) *

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

(2017–present; three live games per weekend) *

Pacific Rugby League International The Pacific Rugby League International is a rugby league test match that has been played between two Pacific Island nations during the National Rugby League's annual representative weekend since 2013. The fixture was held at Penrith Stadium for ...

s (2017–present) * The Knock On Effect NSW Cup (2017–present; one or two games per weekend & Finals) * Hostplus Cup (2017–present; One Finals Series Game Live each weekend & Grand Final Live) *

NRL State Championship The NRL State Championship is a rugby league match contested by the premiers of the two elite second-tier competitions in Australia, the New South Wales Cup and the Queensland Cup. The match has been played as a curtain-raiser to the NRL Grand F ...

(2017–present) * Pre Season Challenge (2017–present) * Charity Shield (2017–present) * Harvey Norman All-Stars (2017–present) *

International Rugby League The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...

(2017–present) *

NRL Touch Premiership The NRL Touch Premiership is the premier national domestic Touch (sport), touch football competition in Australia. It was formed in 2018, through a partnership between its governing body, Touch Football Australia (TFA), and the National Rugby Lea ...

(2018–present) *

NRL Women's Premiership The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for women's rugby league in Australia, female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the ...

(2018–present) *

Rugby League European Championship The Rugby League European Championship (formerly known as the European Cup and European Nations Cup) is a rugby league football tournament for European national teams that was first held in 1935. Originally, the European Cup had three teams, wi ...

(2018–present) *

Rugby League World Cup 9s The Rugby League World Cup 9s (currently known as the Downer Rugby League 9s World Cup for sponsorship purposes) is an international rugby league tournament played in the rugby league nines format of the sport. The competition will be held ever ...

(2019–present) *

Oceania Cup The Oceania Cup is an international men's field hockey competition organised by Oceania Hockey Federation (OHF). It is held every two years to determine which teams will receive an automatic berth to the Men's FIH Hockey World Cup and Summer Olymp ...

(2019–present) *

Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was ...

(2022–present) *

Women's Rugby League World Cup The Women's Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament, contested by the women's national team of the International Rugby League (IRL). The competition has been held since 2000 in Great Britain and since 2008 has been ...

(2022–present) *

Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup The Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup is an international wheelchair rugby league tournament contested by the top national teams. The tournament was first held in 2008 as part of the Festival of World Cups held in Australia. The first winners ...

(2022–present) *

Koori Knockout NSW Koori Rugby League Knockout Carnival is one of the biggest Indigenous gatherings in Australia. The first knockout was held at Camdenville Park, St Peters, on the October long weekend of 1971 with seven participating teams. The winning team ga ...

(2022–present)

Special events

Dally M Awards The Dally M Awards are the official annual player awards for the National Rugby League competition. As well as honouring the player of the year, who received the Dally M Medal, awards are also given to the premier player in each position, the b ...

(2017–present) *

Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame The Australian Rugby LeaguHall of Fame'' honours players who have shown exceptional skill at rugby league, all-time great coaches and referees, and other major contributors to the game who are Australian. It was officially established in 2002, ...

(2018–present)

News and analysis programming

Fox League airs several studio shows including the programs listed below: * ''Hisense Thursday Night Football'' (2017–present) * '' VB Friday Night Footy'' (2017–present) * ''Bundaberg Rum NRL Super Saturday'' (2017–present) * ''Chemist Warehouse Sunday Ticket'' (2017–present) * ''KFC Monday Football'' (2017-present; occasional) * ''The Late Show With Matty Johns'' (2017–present) *'' Sunday Night with Matty Johns'' (2017–present) * ''

NRL 360 The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

'' (2017–present) * ''NRL Tonight'' (2017–present) * ''The Sunday Wrap'' (2017–present) * '' The Fan'' (2018–present) * ''Big League Wrap'' (2018–present) * ''NRL Try Time'' (2018–present) * ''Controversy Corner'' (2018–present) * ''The Matty Johns Podcast'' (2019–present) * ''The Final 5'' (2020–present) * ''Top 5 Rivalries'' (2020–present) * '' Vossy's Awesome 80s'' (2020–present) * ''Season's Best'' (2020–present) * ''

Benji Benji is a fictional character created by Joe Camp. He has been the focus of several movies from 1974 through the 2000s. It is also the title of the first film in the ''Benji'' franchise. Benji is a small, lovable mixed-breed dog with an un ...

'' (2022–present)

Former programming

* ''League 13 – to –1'' (2017) * ''League Legends'' (2017) * ''On the Couch with Sterlo'' (2017) * '' Narrow World of Sports'' (2017–2020) *''

Holden Cup The NRL Under-20s (known commercially as the Holden Cup due to sponsorship from Holden) was the top league of professional rugby league for players aged 20 years or younger in Australasia. Contested by sixteen teams, the Under-20s competition c ...

'' (2017) * ''Queenslanders Only'' (2017–2019) *''League Life'' (2017–2019) * NRL Schoolboy Cup (2017–2019) * ''The Greatest'' (2018–2019) *''

NRL Nines The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus. Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Perth ...

'' (2020) *

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

(2020) * Auckland Rugby League National 20's (2021–2022)

Personnel

Network executives announced a number of key hosting personnel at the public launch of the station on 16 February 2017. Network personalities and the media attended the launch for Fox League's 2018 programming slate on 20 February 2018. Further key hosting personnel were announced, in addition to some pre-existing roles from 2017.

Hosts

Thursday Night League * Yvonne Sampson (2017–2021) *

Braith Anasta Braith Anastasakis (born 14 January 1982), better known as Braith Anasta, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian and Greek international, Anasta played in the NR ...

(2021) * Jess Yates (2022–present) * Lara Pitt (2022) Friday Night Footy * Jess Yates (2020–2021) * Hannah Hollis (2022–present) * Braith Anasta (2022) Super Saturday *

Michael Ennis Michael Ennis (born 16 March 1984) is an Australian sports commentator for Fox League and former professional rugby league footballer of Irish descent. A New South Wales State of Origin representative , he played for the Canterbury-Bankstown ...

(2020–present) * Yvonne Sampson (2017–present) * Braith Anasta (2022) * Jess Yates (2022) * Hannah Hollis (2022) Sunday Ticket * Jess Yates (2017–2020) *

Lara Pitt Lara Pitt (born 11 November 1981) is an Australian television presenter and sports journalist, mainly known for reporting for Fox Sports on their NRL coverage and Monday Night with Matty Johns. Early life Pitt completed a Bachelor of Commerce ...

(2018–2020, 2022) * Hannah Hollis (2020–2021) * Braith Anasta (2022) Sunday Night with Matty Johns * Matty Johns (2017–present) * Bryan Fletcher (2017–present) *

Nathan Hindmarsh Nathan William Hindmarsh (born 7 September 1979) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who captained the Parramatta Eels in the NRL. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative second- ...

(2020–present) * James 'The Professor' Rochford (2017–2021) *

Emma Freedman Emma Freedman is an Australian television and radio presenter who grew up on the Mornington Peninsula. Freedman formerly co-hosted ''The Grill Team'' on Triple M Sydney. Prior to this, she was a weather presenter on ''Weekend Today'' and host ...

(2018–2021) Controversy Corner *

Graeme Hughes Graeme Christopher Hughes (born 6 December 1955) is an Australian sportsman turned broadcaster. He is the last man to have played both rugby league and cricket for New South Wales. His father Noel Hughes played cricket for Worcestershire County ...

(2018–21) * Phil 'Buzz' Rothfield (2018–21) *

Bill Harrigan Bill Harrigan (born 24 May 1960 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league football referee, and former head of refereeing for the National Rugby League. Unusually for a sports official, in his long career he was accorded the ...

(2018–21) * Steve Roach (2018–21)

Ben Ikin Benjamin Ikin (born 21 February 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and works as the Football & Performance Director for the Brisbane Broncos. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representat ...

(2017–2021) * Yvonne Sampson (2021) * Paul Kent (2017–present) *

(2022–present) Big League Wrap * Yvonne Sampson (2018–2021) *

(2018–2021) * James Hooper (2018–2021) NRL Try Time *

(2018–2021) The Fan *

Andrew Voss Andrew Voss (born 7 September 1966) is an Australian rugby league commentator and radio and television personality who works for Fox League. Voss previously worked for the SKY Network Television as a commentator, and at the Nine Network, inclu ...

(2018–present) *

(2020–present) Queenslanders Only * Hannah Hollis (2018) *

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

(2017–2018) *

Kevin Walters Kevin David Walters (born 20 October 1967) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the Head Coach of the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a premiership-winning ...

(2017–2018) * Corey Parker (2017–2018) *

Justin Hodges Justin Hodges (born 25 May 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative , Hodges started his career in the Natio ...

(2017–2018) *

Gorden Tallis Gorden James Tallis (born 27 July 1973), also known by the nickname of "Raging Bull" for his on-field aggression, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin and ...

(2017–2018) * Robert 'Crash' Craddock (2017) League Life * Yvonne Sampson (2017–19) *

(2017–19) * Jess Yates (2017–19) * Hannah Hollis (2017–19) The Greatest *

(2018) The Late Show with Matty Johns * Matty Johns (2017–present) *

(2017–present) *

(2017–present) * Bryan Fletcher (2017–present) * Hannah Hollis (2017–19) * Paul Kent (2017–19) The Professor's Late Hit
(previously titled The Professor's Farewell Tour)
(also previously titled The Professor's Second Year Syndrome) * James 'The Professor' Rochford (2017–2020) *

Brett Finch Brett John Finch (born 20 August 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin representative half back, he played in the National Rugby League for Austra ...

(2017–2018) *

(2018–2020) * Andrew Barnett (2018–2020) *

Chris Page Chris Page is a radio presenter, previously with Triple M Sydney. Page originally worked for NXFM announcer and then moved to SAFM. On 6 December 2009 Page moved to Sydney's 2Day FM, following the top rated Kyle and Jackie O Show. Page has fi ...

(2017–2018) Matty Johns Face to Face * Matty Johns (2021–present) Benji *

Benji Marshall Benjamin Quentin Marshall (born 25 February 1985) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played at or . He previously played for the Wests Tigers in two separate spells, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Bro ...

(2022)

Commentators

* Warren Smith (play-by-play) (1995–present) *

(play-by-play) (2015–present) * Brenton Speed (play-by-play) (2017–present) * Matt Russell (play-by-play, sideline) (2006–present) *

Matthew Nable Matthew Nable (born 8 March 1972) is an Australian film and television actor, writer, sports commentator and former professional rugby league player. After playing in the Winfield Cup Premiership during the 1990s for the Manly-Warringah and S ...

(play-by-play, narration) (2018–present) * Dan Ginnane (play-by-play) (2019–present) * Andy Raymond (sideline) (2008–2020) *

Greg Alexander Gregory Peter Stephen Alexander (born 4 March 1965), also known by the nickname of "Brandy" is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, who has since become a radio, television commentator an ...

(special comments) (1999–present) *

Gary Belcher Gary Belcher (born 28 May 1962) is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former player. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership f ...

(special comments) (2007–present) * Steve Roach (special comments) (2016–present) *

Mark Gasnier Mark Gasnier (born 19 July 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A rugby league New South Wales State of Origin and international representative , he played eleven seasons in the N ...

(special comments) (2012–18) *

(special comments) (2017–present) *

Brett Kimmorley Brett "Noddy" Kimmorley (born 15 September 1976) is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s and is the current interim coach of the Wests Tigers. A New South Wales inter ...

(special comments, sideline) (2011–20) * Corey Parker (special comments) (2017–present) *

(special comments) (2017–20) *

Brent Tate Brent Tate (born 3 March 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or er in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia national rugby league team, Australia international and Queensland rugby league team, Queens ...

(special comments, sideline, North Queensland home games only) (2017–present) *

(special comments) (2016–2020) *

Danny Buderus Danny Buderus (born 6 February 1978) is an Australian rugby league commentator, coach and former professional footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative ...

(special comments) (2016–19) *

(special comments, sideline) (2018) *

(special comments) (2006–present) *

Matthew Johns Matthew James Johns (born 27 July 1971) is an Australian rugby league media personality, commentator and former professional player. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Johns played his club footbal ...

(special comments) (2019–present) *

Luke Lewis Luke Lewis (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian rugby league commentator and former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia ...

(special comments) (2019) *

(special comments) (2013–present) *

Cooper Cronk Cooper Patrick Cronk (born 5 December 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An n international and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played most of his club career fo ...

(special comments) (2020–present) * James Graham (special comments) (2021–present) *

Shane Flanagan Shane Flanagan (born 2 December 1965) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach, and was the Head Coach of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. He was appointed assistant coach of NRL team Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2006 and was ...

(special comments) (2021–present) *

(special comments) (2022)

NSW Cup

* Jimmy Smith (play-by-play, special comments) (2012–2020) * Owen McLeod (play-by-play) (2019–present) * Andy Raymond (play-by-play) (2008–2019) *

Brett Kenny Brett "Bert" Edward Kenny (born 16 March 1961) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He was a and for the Australian national team and New South Wales Blues representative sides, and ...

(special comments) (2018–2020) * Emma Lawrence (sideline) (2017–2018)

NRLW

* Matt Russell (play-by-play) * Ben Homer (play-by-play) * Brenton Speed (play-by-play)

Watch NRL

Outside of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

, Fox League operates Watch NRL, a global

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

network. The network streams all games live, including State of Origin and the Grand Final, unlike its domestic counterpart, who broadcasts these games on delay.

References

External links

* {{Rugby league in Australia Fox Sports (Australian TV network) Television channels and stations established in 2017 2017 establishments in Australia English-language television stations in Australia Sports television networks in Australia Rugby league mass media

History

Programming

Event coverage

Special events

News and analysis programming

Former programming

Personnel

Hosts

Commentators

NSW Cup

NRLW

Watch NRL

See also

References

External links