Fox sends not-so-subtle message to NFL ahead of new contract talks
Fox sends not-so-subtle message to NFL ahead of new contract talks
The company has already signaled its intent to pay more for its NFL package, but it also wants the league to know it won’t be sidelined in favor of streamers.
The NFL is accustomed to getting essentially whatever it wants in negotiations with TV partners. The current state of its contract talks is a perfect example; on paper, the league’s broadcast deals with ABC and ESPN, CBS, Fox, NBC, and Prime Video were signed in 2021, and (at least on paper) run through 2033. But no one is batting an eye at the NFL as it makes known its intention to renegotiate those deals ahead of the 2026 season, and all of its current partners will happily pay more to keep the games.
But the NFL is also looking to carve new packages out of its existing inventory, specifically to sell to streaming services. Its deal with ESPN to sell NFL Media properties to that network allows it to reclaim the rights to a selection of international games, and it may be asking to claw back some regionally broadcast games from Sunday packages as well — all with the hope of marketing the games to streaming services. Ahead of the league’s upcoming contract negotiations with Fox, however, the company is sending a clear message to the league that it won’t be muscled out of too many games for the benefit of streamers.
Fox has launched a coordinated campaign to send a message to the league that it won’t be bullied into giving up too many games from its Sunday package. On Friday, Fox News published a poll, which found that 57% of respondents have skipped watching a game they wanted to see because it was on a streaming service they weren’t subscribed to and didn’t want to sign up and pay for.
The study also found that 72% of sports fans and 60% of non-fans agree that major sporting events should be required to stay on free, over-the-air broadcast channels. Only 27% of fans and 38% of non-fans said that leagues should be allowed to move games behind the streaming paywall.
The rollout of the poll was accompanied by an appearance by FCC chair Brendan Carr on the weekend news-talk show “Fox & Friends Weekend” to discuss whether the NFL’s antitrust exemption could be at risk if it shifts too many games from broadcast TV to streaming services. The poll, combined with the appearance of Carr, was a clear message from Fox: don’t expect us to simply pay whatever you want only to lose games. The network clearly has the political allies to push back against the NFL’s leverage, and it isn’t afraid to call on them.
That isn’t to say that Fox will refuse to pay the NFL’s asking price — and it will be a high price. CBS was the first partner the league approached to get contract talks going, and negotiations between the two have reportedly included a 50% increase in the annual fee that CBS’s parent company, Paramount SkyDance, will have to pay to keep the NFL. Fox can likely expect negotiations with the NFL to start in a similar ballpark.
Fox has made it clear in the past that it highly values its relationship with the NFL, even to the point of being willing to sacrifice other sports rights to afford the league. But it won’t write the league a blank check if it feels that the NFL is trying to take away too many games from its package to turn around and sell to streaming services.
While I don’t expect negotiations to get too rocky between Fox and the NFL, the league’s desire to put more games on streamers could cause more chest-thumping on both sides. The league can read the tea leaves as well as anyone else; linear TV is on its way out, and while live sports can still bring big audiences to traditional channels, most other marquee programming is now primarily found on streaming services. The league doesn’t want to be stuck on an otherwise-dead platform, and getting customers more accustomed to watching live games on streamers now is as good a time as any.
That is why YouTube makes so much sense for the league as a streaming partner headed into the 2026 season. The platform is available globally for free, so moving a selection of games there would present fewer barriers to fans than selling the package to a subscription service like Netflix.
The NFL will almost certainly ask to reclaim a selection of games from Fox in their upcoming media negotiations, and Fox will probably surrender at least one or two. But the company has made it very clear that it will employ its allies in the American political sphere and sway public opinion to the side of broadcasters if the NFL tries to carve out too large a package of games to be sold to streaming services.
Fox One
Launched August 21, 2025, Fox One is a direct-to-consumer streaming service from Fox Corporation. Billed as a “major digital initiative,” Fox One brings together the full range of Fox’s leading news, sports, and entertainment brands, offering live and on-demand access in one unified platform.