SPORTS PRO 🔵 Fox will ‘rebalance’ sports portfolio to retain NFL rights – SportsPro

• NFL expected to renegotiate US$110bn TV deals as early as this year
• Network also broadcasts MLB, Fifa World Cup and Nascar
• Company records small revenue rise to US$5.18bn for Q2 2026

Fox is prepared to “rebalance” its sports rights portfolio to retain the National Football League (NFL), according to chief executive Lachlan Murdoch.

The NFL is in the midst of 11-year deals with Fox, Amazon, CBS, NBCUniversal and ESPN worth a combined US$111 billion, which expire in the early 2030s. However, it is widely expected to renegotiate its contracts as early as this year, in the belief that its rights are undervalued.

The league has also taken more games to streaming services like Netflix and YouTube TV, who will likely provide increased competition for traditional networks like Fox and CBS.

The NFL remains a ratings juggernaut, recording its second most-watched regular season on record over the past year. Fox averaged 19.6 million viewers for all of its games during the regular season, which was its highest audience total since 2015.

Speaking on an earnings call, Murdoch said the network would be willing to offset the expected increased costs that will accompany a renewal.

“It’s obviously tremendous, tremendous content for us. And they’ve been a really fantastic partner,” Murdoch said of the NFL. “We have the ability to offset a portion of any kind of cost increases because we look at our sports portfolio as a whole.

“We would certainly consider balancing or rebalancing our portfolio as we move forward, when those opportunities become available. So we feel pretty comfortable about the sports business.”

Outside of the NFL, Fox’s sports rights portfolio consists of Major League Baseball (MLB), IndyCar, Nascar and the Big Ten college sports conference. The network is also broadcasting this summer’s Fifa World Cup, which marks the last World Cup in its current rights deal for the tournament with Fifa.

Fox has already seen increased competition for rights from streamers, with Netflix swooping in to take over the US rights for the next two editions of the Fifa Women’s World Cup.

For its second financial quarter, the conglomerate reported revenue of US$5.18 billion, which represented a two per cent year-over-year (YoY) increase. This was helped by a one per cent YoY gain in advertising revenues, which was attributed to higher sports and news pricing, the continued digital growth of the Tubi ad-supported streaming service, and a higher volume of MLB post-season games.

However, Fox noted that it saw an increase in expenses due to higher sports programming rights amortisation and production costs, alongside higher digital marketing costs. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) amounted to US$692 million, down by US$89 million on the prior year quarter.

SportsPro says…

Murdoch’s comments should come as no surprise, given the NFL continues to deliver huge viewership for its broadcast partners. His willingness to say this on record may however spark concern for properties it currently works with whilst illustrating the challenges facing many in the current economic climate. 

MLB for instance will push for more money when its rights deal expires in 2028, given its increasing viewership, as shown by a record-setting World Series this year. Meanwhile, Fifa will want to extract more revenue from its World Cup deal.

It reflects a tricky balance Fox will have to strike in terms of its portfolio. It is not alone in this quandary, with ESPN recently opting to pass on Formula One’s US rights to avoid overpaying for the motorsport series.

Fox was among the last of traditional US broadcasters to embrace streaming, launching its Fox One direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service last year. Given the NFL’s ability to deliver big audiences, keeping the league will be a priority for the network, which still relies on cable advertising revenue.

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