Can Rupert Murdoch Crush ESPN Like Fox Did CNN?

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Imagine you and I (yes, you!) sitting in a bar just off Wall Street -- maybe on Stone Street -- or we're at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. Maybe we're enjoying a Molson Export in Toronto, a Guinness pint in Dublin or just a regular old Amstel Light in a suburban Phoenix strip mall-situated tavern.

That's the context from which this conversation spews. Sarcastic, but genuine. Even loving. I mean what I say, yet I mean no harm. The beer is reasonably flowing; we can be honest and leave it all on the ice.

Deep down I think that, by and large, social conservatives are maniacs. I count some great friends and family members in this group of nut cases. I reserve similar judgment (it's so wrong to judge, but all do!) for whacked-out Libertarians and self-righteous California Toyota Prius owners. So it's all good. Plus, I'm buying the next round.

With that said, Rupert Murdoch's Fox -- owned by his growing News Corp (NWSA) empire -- just made it official. They're going after Disney's (DIS) ESPN.

I'm not much of a fan of Fox's cable news channel, but I sure as heck respect what they have accomplished. Straight from Murdoch's involvement all the way "down" to the personalities and producers who drive the day-to-day. They are incredibly good at what they do -- agree or disagree with the network's prevailing political viewpoints.

Don't buy the soft talk from NWSA COO Chase Carey that "We're not trying to beat ESPN." Well played.

Fox Sports will not beat ESPN overnight. However, with an assist from Comcast's (CMCSA) NBC Sports Network and CBS's (CBS) CBS Sports Network, it will slowly ding away at ESPN's dominance. Don't be surprised if, one day, it establishes itself as a strong No. 2 or an equal to ESPN or even leapfrogs existing sports network.

Rupert Murdoch and his people don't fool around. They're no joke. If you don't think they play to win, you haven't been paying attention. Look at what Fox News did to CNN. It absolutely crushed it. No doubt, it had an assist from Twitter.

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