Yeah, but how long did that take? The NHL was basically reduced to gutter trash for years and years before they started to make a resurgence. ESPN definitely put the screws to them for quite awhile. Even now hockey doesn't get close to the coverage on ESPN that it did when they had it on their airwaves, and the average sports fan goes there first.
Agreed, especially on the EPL. It was a huge mistake by Fox Sports to let that get away. It's a niche market, but it's a growing niche market and one they could have exclusively marketed to.