It doesn’t sound like FOX is coming in with a surprise bid for the NBA as the league begins negotiating its next media rights deals this summer.
On an earnings call earlier this week, FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch was asked about how the company evaluates its sports partnerships. He said that his goal is for the network to stay inline with market rates and evaluate each partnership’s value.
“We’re constantly managing them,” he said in response to the question from UBS Telecom & Cable Analyst John Hodulik. “We look at sports rights as they come up. And we also look at them as they get renewed just to make sure that they are efficient for us and that we’re paying a responsible and appropriate amount for those rights. So we’re constantly adjusting, but we do it with, I think, a real commitment to discipline in terms of what rights we would acquire or dispose of.”
FOX holds broadcast rights for NASCAR and the WWE. Both will soon be up for renewal. According to Murdoch, that makes thinking about adding new rights difficult.
“It’s always a moving feast, but I wouldn’t expect anything dramatic at all in that area.”
