craiyon logo

A large crowd gathers outside a stadium at dusk, a screen displays 'UFC 309 Preliminary Card FX', with a city skyline behind.

A large crowd gathers outside a stadium at dusk, a screen displays 'UFC 309 Preliminary Card FX', with a city skyline behind.

On September 7, 2019, FX would air the preliminary card for UFC 242. The event was being held in Abu Dhabi, which created conflicts with Saturday afternoon college football games on ESPN and ESPN2; it marked the first ESPN-produced sporting event to air on FX since the Disney acquisition of FX.[42] For similar reasons, FX also aired the preliminary card for UFC 309 on Saturday, November 16, 2024.[43] ESPN called UFC 309 airing on FX "a success" and announced that the subsequent UFC event, UFC 310, would have its preliminary card simulcast on ESPN2 and FX.[44] In 2025, UFC 311, UFC 320, UFC 321, UFC 322, and UFC 323, would also air on FX.[45] With ESPN losing the rights to the UFC to CBS Sports after 2025, no more UFC events will air on FX. On May 17, 2022, Disney announced that it had acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to the XFL beginning with its 2023 season, with games airing on FX, ESPN, and ABC;[46] FX was included in the package to accommodate ESPN and ABC's existing programming commitments. With its first XFL broadcast in February 2023, FX introduced an "ESPN on FX" brand for sports broadcasts carried by FX, modelled after the existing ESPN on ABC branding.[47][48] ESPN discontinued the broadcasts on FX by late March once the main network's extensive commitments to college basketball were completed.[49] When the XFL merged with United States Football League (USFL) to form the United Football League (UFL), Fox Sports absorbed half of the merged league's broadcast Mehr sehen