Even in the midst of a high-profile presidential election last fall, sports stood out as a primary revenue and profit driver for Fox, and they will continue to do so in 2025.

The company reported Tuesday a 20% boost in revenue to $5.1 billion for its fiscal second quarter that ran from October to December 2024, while net income more than doubled to $388 million. It was the second straight robust period for Fox following a strong first quarter, and while political advertising surrounding the election was critical, sports remains a core underpinning for the entire company. 

Among the highlights for Fox during the quarter:

• Improved MLB postseason viewership, peaking with the Yankees-Dodgers World Series that produced the largest audience for that event since 2017 
• Heightened pricing for ads during NFL games, even amid a decline in regular-season viewership 
• Both viewership and advertising gains from an expanded college football slate included a new focus on Friday nights 

“We are firing on all cylinders,” said Fox CEO and executive chair Lachlan Murdoch in an earnings call Tuesday with analysts. “Sports remains remarkably robust.”

The One Downside

Murdoch said the lone sports disappointment for Fox during the quarter was the abrupt demise of Venu Sports, the sports-oriented streaming service developed in partnership with ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery. The shuttering arrived just days after ESPN parent company Disney reached a deal to acquire a majority stake in Fubo, which had legally challenged the formation of Venu Sports.

“While the Venu team had done a tremendous amount of truly genius work preparing the digital platform, in the end, the legal distractions around the business became increasingly difficult to bear,” he said. 

Fox will be developing its own direct-to-consumer streaming service, with a public debut targeted for late 2025. The effort, however, will take something of a back seat to the company’s business in linear television.

“We see the traditional cable bundle as still the most value for our consumers, and the most value for our company,” Murdoch said. 

There was no mention of the ongoing sexual misconduct allegations within Fox Sports in the earnings call. 

Super Bowl Watch

The current quarter for Fox, of course, will be highlighted by Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, to be shown by the network. It’s not yet certain whether the game will be able to match last year’s record-setting draw of 123.4 million for the Super Bowl, but there already have been boosts from expanded measurement methodology from Nielsen, and ad sales that in some instances have reached an unprecedented $8 million per 30-second unit. 

The game will also be shown on Fox’s streaming service, Tubi, which typically does not offer the network’s live sports. 

“This will broaden the reach of the game and deliver Tubi an opportunity to engage a large cohort of new users,” Murdoch said.

The NFL almost always gets what it wants, but the league may not accomplish its stated goal of playing eight international games during the 2025 regular season.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave an update on the upcoming international slate during his annual state of the league press conference Monday. “We’re looking to try to get to eight games this year,” he said. “We may fall short of that, but we think we’ll get close to that. But I see that continuing to progress.”

So far, the NFL has announced three games in London, its debut in Berlin, and its first game in Madrid for the 2025 season. In November, Goodell said the league was “shooting for” eight games outside the U.S. this fall, including returns to Brazil and Mexico, as well as a debut in Ireland.

For the past three seasons, the NFL has played a record five international games, and team owners have approved playing up to eight in 2025. The ultimate goal remains to play double that outside domestic borders. “We do think that 16 is something that is realistic,” Goodell said Monday, reiterating his stance on the topic.

There could be news coming as soon as this week. On Wednesday afternoon, the NFL is hosting a press conference in New Orleans to discuss the league’s international expansion and global growth strategy. The NFL could announce more games to be played abroad or even its entire 2025 international slate.

Recent reports have linked the Steelers to playing in Ireland, hinted at a long-term partnership for the NFL in Brazil, and even pointed to the Rams and Eagles playing a regular-season game in Australia in 2026.

When asked about the Australia report Monday night, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said, “We are a natural team to play there. If there’s an opportunity to be an away team there, we will embrace that.”

Jordan Mailata, the standout Eagles tackle, is an Australian former rugby player. He signed a three-year, $66 million extension last season.

The NFL played five games in Mexico between 2016 and 2022 but has taken a hiatus from the country, while Estadio Azteca has undergone renovations ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

The NFL suffered another TV ratings decline over the weekend, even though it was the bye week for the Chiefs and Eagles preparing to play in Super Bowl LIX.

Viewership for the Pro Bowl Games decreased for the third consecutive year in the rebranded iteration of the league’s all-star contest. ABC, ESPN, and Disney XD drew 4.7 million viewers for Sunday’s simulcast, according to a source that viewed the Nielsen ratings, which was headlined by a flag football game, along with other competitions like a punting contest and tug-of-war match. The NFC beat the AFC 76–63.

Those ratings are down by more than 1 million viewers—roughly an 18% decrease—from the 5.75 million who tuned in to the Pro Bowl Games flag football finale last year. In 2023, the audience was 6.2 million during the first year using the new format. In 2022, the final year with a tackle football game, the Pro Bowl drew 6.7 million viewers.

On Sunday, there was an announced crowd of 54,313 in Orlando at Camping World Stadium, which has a capacity of more than 60,000. That’s down slightly from 55,709 last year.

On Thursday night, the Pro Bowl Skills Show averaged 1.13 million viewers on ESPN, just down from 1.14 million last year. It was the second-most-watched edition of the skills show since 2018.

Flag Football’s Rise

The NFL continues to use the Pro Bowl Games to promote flag football ahead of the sport’s Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

In Orlando, veteran Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans, 31, became the latest player to throw his name in the ring for a spot on Team USA.

“This is good practice for me in the Olympics,” said Evans. “Most likely I’ll be retired by 2028. How many years is that? Three years? I don’t know. But if I am retired, I would definitely like to play in the Olympics.”

Last summer, NFL stars like Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill and Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons made their interest in competing in the Olympics known.