The network was established after Fox Sports Networks reached a 20-year broadcast agreement for the regional cable television rights to carry games from the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball, displacing previous rights holder 4SD, a local cable channel owned by Cox Communications.

[3] The network started operations with a minimal presence and no dedicated editing facilities or studio; during its first season, Padres game broadcasts were produced from a high-definition production truck inherited from 4SD.

On May 3, 2019, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (through their joint venture, Diamond Holdings) bought Fox Sports Networks from the Walt Disney Company for $10.6 billion.

[6] On November 17, 2020, Sinclair announced an agreement with casino operator Bally's Corporation to serve as a new naming rights partner for the FSN channels.

MLB subsequently took over production of Padres broadcasts, with the games being made available on select cable channels, including YurView California, and MLB.TV within the Bally Sports San Diego footprint.

Until the team folded in 2014, the network also carried simulcasts of MLS's Chivas USA games from Prime Ticket for the 2012 MLS Season.The channel also aired telecasts of the AHL's San Diego Gulls[1] In May 2018, Fox Sports acquired the English-language rights to broadcast the home matches of Liga MX clubs C.F.

Dish Network reached an agreement to carry Fox Sports San Diego on February 7, 2013, adding the channel to its lineup two months later on April 1.

[18] Of the five major television providers serving the San Diego region, Time Warner Cable (which is now known as Spectrum that serves roughly 22% of the market)[19] was a notable holdout in carrying the network on launch;[18] by contrast, during the Padres' later tenure with the channel, TWC did carry 4SD (which was also, by contrast, not offered by U-verse or on satellite providers, leading to complaints filed by AT&T to the Federal Communications Commission that eventually led to the removal of the "terrestrial loophole" in 2010).

[19] In 2015, Frontier FiOS agreed to carry Fox Sports San Diego for the Coachella Valley in time for the 2015 season.