Fox Is Said to Near Deal for NFL's `Thursday Night Football'

(Bloomberg) -- 21st Century Fox Inc. is close to a deal for the rights to “Thursday Night Football,” according to people familiar with the matter, betting that adding NFL games to its prime-time schedule will boost viewership despite the league’s recent decline in the ratings.

The company submitted a bid that’s higher than the $45 million a game CBS and NBC agreed to pay last year, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The deal hasn’t been finalized and could still fall apart.

Fox’s pursuit of “Thursday Night Football” is a sign of its strategic direction after a planned sale of assets to Walt Disney Co. for $52.4 billion. The Murdoch family, which runs the company, wants to prove to the market that it’s still very interested in sports, the people said.

CBS and NBC paid a combined $450 million to air 10 games last year. The networks bid again this year, but their enthusiasm has waned with NFL ratings down 9.7 percent this past regular season.

Ratings Drop

TV executives, including Fox Chief Executive Officer James Murdoch, have blamed the Thursday game for declines in viewership over the past couple seasons, arguing the market has become saturated, with other matchups airing on Sunday and Monday. The cost of rights has risen even as the audience for football on TV has shrunk. 

Football is still the most-watched program on TV, a vital lure of advertising sales and fees from cable operators. A Thursday night game would boost Fox, which ranks last among the broadcast networks in total audience and is tied for second among viewers 18 to 49.

Fox agreed last month to sell cable channels FX and National Geographic, its movie and TV studio and international assets to Disney. If that deal gets approved by regulators, the new Fox will be much smaller, with broadcast, news and sports channels.

Fox shares were unchanged in early New York trading, while Disney rose 0.8 percent to $110.99.

To contact the reporters on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net, Lucas Shaw in Los Angeles at lshaw31@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Jessica Brice, Kim Robert McLaughlin

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