Fox Sports is looking for more ways to use $375 million acquisition Tom Brady as streaming wars usher in a new era of sports broadcasting.
The seven-time world champion joined the network on a 10-year deal from the start of the 2024 NFL season.
He has already had his first taste of Super Bowl action in the booth after 10 appearances as a player but will have to wait for 2029 to return as other broadcasters take over.
Fox NFL Sunday has ranked as America’s most-watched pre-game NFL show every year since its inception in 1994.
And the network is keen to extend its reach even further with a move into streaming as Amazon and Netflix encroach into the live sports space.
Per Sportico, of the 125.8 million viewers who watched the Super Bowl, about 12 percent came via Tubi — an ad-supported service launched by Fox in 2020.
CEO Lachlan Murdoch says the broadcaster will debut a new direct-to-consumer product before the 2025 season kicks off in the fall.
That would potentially allow fans to catch Brady’s analysis on demand instead of via a TV package, although few details have been released of the as-yet unnamed service.
While Netflix managed 24.2 million viewers for its Christmas double-header in 2024, Fox and CBS both averaged over 29 million with their holiday broadcasts a year earlier.
“I think reach is still key,” Murdoch said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on Monday.
“Obviously [the NFL is] driving for a financial outcome, which is understandable and completely fair, but reach is important if you’re going to be—if you are—the national sport.
“And it’s reach not just through broadcast, but how you can increase that reach through other services, and Tubi is a good example of that.”
Fox is vowing not to turn its back on traditional methods, however.
“If you ever see us marketing DTC on broadcast TV, my head would explode,” Murdoch joked. “You’re not going to see Tom Brady marketing DTC on the halftime show.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell estimates that 88 percent of all games are still available via over-the-air TV.
There is a possibility that the league could exit its lucrative rights package in 2029 after the NBA agreed a massive $77 billion deal that saw Amazon replace ESPN.
“I think those opt outs are incredibly valuable for the NFL,” said Goodell. “They give us a significant opportunity to look at what the best options for the NFL are as we get to that stage, in large part because the media landscape is changing so quickly.
“Are there different avenues that we should approach and have different opportunities to pursue? We have that built into our media deals and I think that will serve us very well.”
Goodell is well aware of how much TV networks have helped turn the NFL into America’s sport.
Murdoch claims an opt-out could give Fox an opportunity to strengthen the ties.
“The NFL is our largest partnership. They have an incredible product, and we’ve had a deep relationship with them for a very long time,” he said.
“So, we see this ‘amend and extend’ provision, which is still some years out, as an opportunity for us to frankly deepen our relationship with the NFL.”
Fox signed Brady for the long haul and it won’t give up its position as the dominant broadcaster of America’s biggest sport without a fibght.
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