Fox have been one of the main winners from this summer’s World Cup on home soil.
For starters, they have pulled in record viewing figures as the United States have swaggered to the knockout rounds.
Bosnia and Herzegovina await for Mauricio Pochettino’s side in the last 32, and Fox will hope to surpass the average of nearly 18 million who watched their opening match against Paraguay.
Fox paid FIFA $485m for the rights to air the World Cup in America. That is universally seen as one of the deals of the decade in the sports business industry.
Outside the US, the deal has attracted scrutiny. The FIFA-mandated hydration breaks are seen as a way for American broadcasters to smuggle in more advert breaks by dividing 90-minute matches into four quarters, for example.
On one occasion, Fox actually returned to the action late in order to finish their scheduled advertising programme, in direct contravention of FIFA’s rules. But they got away with it and, on the whole, the coverage has been well-received.
Even if a cynic might say it is a little manufactured, the on-screen antipathy between pundits Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexi Lalas has helped boost ratings too.
And on the eve of the US’s round-of-32 clash, The Athletic report that Fox are set to make a significant change to their coverage.
From 4 July, all of Fox’s main studio team – fronted by Rebecca Lowe, Thierry Henry, Ibrahimovic and Lalas – will be on-location for the final two weeks of the World Cup.
That will be a change from the core of the team being situated in their salubrious Los Angeles studio.
The same report in The Athletic suggests that the next World Cup rightsholder in the US will pay far more than Fox have this time around.
Competition from streamers will likely be intense, and FIFA will use the ratings success of this World Cup as proof of concept.
In total, FIFA are projecting media income of $4.3bn for the current rights cycle, up from $3.1bn in Qatar three-and-a-half years ago.
