The World Cup came to North America this summer, and Fox had a front-row seat for all of it. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results Thursday.
The main driver was the FIFA Men's World Cup, which began in June and was held across North America.
Fox's coverage averaged roughly 7.7 million viewers per match, according to Nielsen. That number came from 104 matches.
The Spain-Argentina final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, drew nearly 39 million viewers on Fox's platforms. That set a company record.
CEO Lachlan Murdoch called the full year "record financial performance." He noted that the prior year was especially strong because it included the Super Bowl and presidential election.
The World Cup did not just help traditional TV. Tubi, Fox's free service that runs on ads, drew over 20 million viewers to its World Cup section.
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Murdoch said two early-round matches on Tubi produced two of the highest-traffic days in the platform's history. Fox has been using Tubi to reach younger viewers, and it has put recent Super Bowls on the service too.
Fox One, the subscription streaming service that launched about a year ago, also got a boost. It costs $19.99 a month, includes Fox's full content lineup, and comes in a bundle with Disney's ESPN streaming service.
The service exceeded expectations, with new subscribers and strong retention. Distribution revenue rose 5%, partly because of Fox One.
Murdoch said Fox One has caused "minimal cannibalization" of traditional pay TV.
He also said the service was not meant to make pay TV losses worse, and that the subscribers it brings in "are truly incremental."
The tournament also gave Fox a chance to show off its streaming plans. In June, Fox announced a proposed $22 billion deal to buy Roku, which runs The Roku Channel, a direct rival to Tubi.
That plan follows a big change Fox made on Aug. 6, 2019, when it sold its entertainment assets to Disney. What remains is a sports- and news-heavy lineup, and that mix tends to keep ad revenue steady.
Fox's annual Upfront ad-sales presentations were among its strongest ever, with volume up double digits.
Live events are pulling crowds across the industry, not just at Fox. NBCUniversal's Telemundo and Peacock had strong viewership and ad sales for their Spanish-language World Cup coverage, and Disney said this week it has already sold out its ad inventory for next February's Super Bowl.
For investors, the big backdrop is that cable TV is shrinking. Industrywide, pay TV subscriber losses are hurting distribution revenue, and many streaming services are seeing stagnant subscriber growth.
Fox is trying a different route. It is leaning on Tubi for free, ad-supported viewing and Fox One for subscribers who want premium content, and Murdoch says the company will keep exploring bundles.
The World Cup was a reminder that live sports are one of the few things people still watch together in real time. For your portfolio, the interesting part is whether Fox can keep cashing in on that habit as traditional TV fades.
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