Fox NFL media rights talks will wait until closer to 2030
Fox will not amend its NFL deal early, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said, leaving its 2029-30 opt-out timetable in place.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Fox will not reopen its NFL media-rights agreement before the current deal reaches its opt-out period, Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch said on the company’s Thursday earnings call. The decision on Fox NFL media rights keeps the broadcaster on its existing timetable as the league has explored earlier, pricier agreements with some partners.
Murdoch said Fox reached the decision after what he described as recent discussions with the NFL. An NFL spokesperson declined to comment on his remarks, CNBC reported.
When can the NFL opt out of Fox’s media-rights deal?
CNBC reported that the NFL can exit Fox’s current agreement after the 2029-30 season. Murdoch referred to Fox’s contract as extending through the completion of the 2029 season, while saying the company would be prepared to discuss the opt-out years and later seasons closer to 2030.
The differing descriptions leave a minor timing distinction in the public account, but Fox’s stated position is clear: it does not intend to amend the present contract now. If the opt-out clause were removed, CNBC reported, Fox’s agreement would otherwise run through the end of the 2033-34 season.
What would an early NFL deal have changed?
An early amendment under discussion would have given the NFL more guaranteed years of carriage in exchange for higher fees, CNBC reported. Fox and CBS-parent Paramount hold the league’s Sunday-afternoon game packages.
Fox’s package costs about $2.2 billion a year and CBS’s about $2.1 billion, according to CNBC’s reporting based on people familiar with the matter. The NFL and Paramount have been negotiating over CBS’s package, including a possible increase in price and removal of that deal’s 2029-30 opt-out, CNBC reported; no completed agreement was reported.
- 2021: The NFL signed its current media-rights arrangements, valued at more than $100 billion, CNBC reported.
- After 2029-30: The league can opt out of agreements with Fox, Paramount, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video, according to CNBC.
- Through 2031: Disney’s ESPN and ABC have an additional year before their rights reach their own stated endpoint.
- Through 2033-34: Fox and Paramount’s deals would run if their opt-out provisions were eliminated, CNBC reported.
CNBC reported that the NFL started its early discussions with Paramount because a change-of-control provision tied to Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount Global could allow the league to end the CBS deal by 2027. That does not establish whether the league will secure early revisions from other partners.
For Fox, the announcement means its current NFL arrangement remains unchanged for now. Murdoch called the company’s relationship with the league positive and said Fox would engage again nearer the opt-out period.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.