Fox is not interested in renegotiating its NFL contract early.
The talks are about media rights, the money a network pays to air games. The NFL can trigger an opt-out (a chance to end the deal early) after the 2029-30 season, so Murdoch says the real conversation can wait until closer to the 2030 season.
"We'll be ready to engage with the NFL on the opt-out seasons and beyond at a date closer to the 2030 season, which has been the customary timetable," Murdoch said.
Murdoch described the relationship as "an incredibly positive one."
The NFL had already tested the waters. According to a CNBC report, it held early talks with Fox and Paramount Skydance, the parent company of CBS, about removing the opt-out and increasing rights fees.
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Murdoch said the conversations were productive, but the result was no change to Fox's contract. A league representative declined to comment.
The league believes it is worth more. Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC last year that the NFL's current deals do not fully reflect the value of its games relative to other leagues.
"I think our partners would want to sit down and talk to us at any time, and we continue to dialogue with them. I like that opportunity," Goodell said.
He has a comparison to point to. The NBA's 11-year, $77 billion media deal from 2024 nearly tripled its rights revenue.
The NFL's latest rights agreements, signed in 2021, total more than $100 billion. That gives the league a strong argument to aim higher next time.
The NFL has other ways to make changes even if Fox waits. It can negotiate early with other media partners or add new ones, and it has already done so with YouTube and Netflix.
Paramount is a separate situation. CNBC reported earlier this year that early NFL-Paramount talks involved paying nearly $1 billion per year in added rights fees, with CBS guaranteed to carry games through 2034 in return.
Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said this week that the NFL has not approached Disney about a new deal. He also said Disney has "pretty much all the sports rights it needs locked up into the 2030s."
NFL games are still the most-watched programming on television, and that is exactly why these negotiations matter. Networks with football want to hold onto it, and the league knows it.
For viewers, the immediate future is stable. Fox and CBS currently carry the league's Sunday afternoon game packages, and no current deal expires before the 2029 season.
The next few years will decide whether football rights get an NBA-sized payday. If they do, networks would have to figure out where that money comes from.
That could show up in what you pay for TV or streaming. But the games themselves are not going anywhere.
Rates, prices and policy all end up in your budget eventually. Get the free Market Briefs daily newsletter and see it coming.
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