TopTV's lack of any actual real mainstream sport (due to an inability and unwillingness to pay for sports shows and sport channels) could possibly be partially remedied soon through no action of the South African pay TV provider - It could be ESPN (DStv 230) versus Fuel (TopTV 225) soon if News Corp. goes ahead with plans to change Fuel TV into a mainstream sports TV channel.
News Corp. is considering taking on The Walt Disney Company's ESPN TV network by upgrading and changing Fuel TV, the TV channel that belongs to Fox but is currently a niche channel focused on extreme outdoor sports and surfing.
ESPN is dominant in American football rights as well as American baseball. News Corp. however already owns a lot of sport rights and have signed up multiple other sports events still coming up to 2022. According to the credible Bloomberg financial news service, News Corp. wants to take on ESPN and is currently deciding on whether to use Fuel to do it.
Fuel could change into a much better sports channel as soon as by the end of 2012. As telling? The lack of comment from everybody involved as the plan starts to leak.