Fox is not engaging in domestic rights renegotiations with the NFL until at least 2028, company executive chair and CEO Lachlan Murdoch said Thursday.
As the broadcaster reported its fiscal fourth quarter earnings, Murdoch said recent discussions with the league have created consensus to table the issue.
“We’ll be ready to engage with the NFL on the opt-out seasons and beyond at a day closer to the 2030 season, which has been the customary timetable,” Murdoch said. “Obviously, we have been talking with them over the last period about the future of our rights, certainly for the next four years, and then beyond the opt-out period. But we feel we continue to have a great relationship with them … We think we can see a clear path forward, certainly through the ’29 season, and also beyond.”
The NFL had been planning to begin talks on new domestic rights deals as soon as this year as it is posting historic viewership totals. League commissioner Roger Goodell has repeatedly lauded the importance of the NFL’s contractual opt-outs that begin to take effect after the 2029 season, allowing it to take fuller advantage of its enhanced market power, and Fox had long been bracing for the financial impact of higher rights fees.
Fox currently pays about $2.25 billion annually for its NFL rights package, and any new agreement is widely expected to come at a significantly higher price.
Ongoing delays with CBS Sports parent company Paramount’s planned takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, however, are likely clouding the situation—at least to some degree. CBS has been generally thought to be at the front of the line in terms of renegotiating its NFL pact. Nothing, however, can really happen there until the WBD questions are answered, and that might not happen until next spring as a trial on a legal challenge from 12 states opposing that deal is scheduled for March 2027.
There also had been sizable political overtones to the NFL’s media situation as Fox, and its chairman emeritus Rupert Murdoch, have been seen as directly connected to heightened regulatory scrutiny on the league in recent months.
The NFL declined to comment on Fox’s latest remarks. League sources, however, said the NFL retains full optionality in its media strategy.
World Cup Impact
Fox also reported a set of financial results elevated by the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup, the initial portion of which happened during the quarter. The company said it generated $4.21 billion in revenue, up 28% from the comparable period in 2025, and net income of $696 million, down 3%. Advertising revenue surged 78%, again with the World Cup as a primary driver.
For the full year, Fox reported $17.13 billion in revenue, up 5%, and income of $1.73 billion, down 24%.
The earnings in both periods were hit in part by costs associated with last summer’s debut and the subsequent development of the Fox One streaming service. A relatively late arrival to the streaming wars, Fox has since elevated its presence in the space with growth of Tubi and the recent acquisition of Roku, which is scheduled to close in the first half of 2027.
The World Cup, and its record-setting viewership, “illustrated how Fox can take events like this and amplify them in a way that’s frankly unique in the market,” Murdoch said.
