The FIFA World Cup, one week in, has been a smashing success for FOX Sports. Across all FOX platforms, viewership is rising to levels never before seen on English-language television. The event has already eclipsed one billion social views across FOX Sports platforms. Attendance has been strong, and every metric is trending upward. So why would FOX Sports be complaining about how the global event is being covered by others?
That’s the question I kept asking myself when I saw a story on Front Office Sports citing several unnamed FOX executives who expressed frustration with ESPN’s coverage of the World Cup. They point to what they view as the network’s lack of attention on the global tournament. Why would FOX Sports care to waste time on how rival networks are covering the event in the first place?
Make no mistake about it: FOX and ESPN are competitors. One dominates in both American sports rights and studio programming, while the other continues to chip away at that advantage. Despite sharing media rights across leagues ranging from MLB and the NFL to college sports, they remain fierce rivals.
However, during one of the most successful events in FOX Sports history, why worry about what your competition is doing instead of embracing the same event yourself?
There Are Rules
To be fair, ESPN is operating at a disadvantage. FOX Sports paid for the rights to air the FIFA World Cup. With those rights come advantages and access points that other networks — a.k.a. the competition — simply do not have. That’s true of virtually every global sporting event, including the Olympics, and it also applies to many major domestic sports leagues.
You need to pay for access to assets. Some events, however, are more restrictive than others.
For example, FIFA prevents other networks from using highlights until the conclusion of FOX Sports’ postgame coverage. That prevents a network like ESPN is prevented from showing highlights until at least the following day. Not only that, but there are reportedly restrictions on how much footage can be used. After 24 hours, those highlights can no longer be utilized.
Now, could ESPN have access to press conferences? Certainly. But action and movement are what viewers want, not stiff and uninteresting clips from press conferences.
Because of that lack of access, ESPN’s coverage style and approach are more limited than the all-in strategy FOX Sports is taking.
To be fair, in an attempt to speak on the matter with sources at FOX Sports, none would go on the record about the reported “disgust” some FOX executives may have toward ESPN’s approach to the World Cup. However, let’s look at it another way.
To Be Fair….
The NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final were both major events in American sports just last weekend. The games took place during the two days following the USMNT’s 4-1 victory over Paraguay.
Some people in America would say the New York Knicks’ and Carolina Hurricanes’ championships were bigger stories than anything happening at the FIFA World Cup. Both series aired on ESPN and ABC. Leading to viewership levels and social engagement not seen around those events in many years.
Do ESPN executives or staff members care that FOX Sports never posted about the New York Knicks or Carolina Hurricanes winning championships on its social media channels? Those are championship moments that will be live forever, not an opening victory against a lesser opponent in the group stage.
Of course not. And if ESPN did express disgust over the notion, it would also be ridiculous.
It makes no sense for anyone at FOX Sports to focus on anything other than the execution and delivery of a global event for an American audience. Any executive would be wasting time by monitoring how the competition is covering an event that resides on FOX’s own airwaves.
Keep The Blinders On
If FOX Sports wants validation, it doesn’t need to look any further than the numbers. Viewership is soaring. Social engagement is exploding. The World Cup is breaking through with American audiences in ways few could have imagined. That’s the victory. That’s the story.
Is FOX Sports the little brother to ESPN? In many cases, you can make that argument. But that doesn’t mean punching up and complaining about another network’s approach benefits anyone while FOX’s crown jewel event is underway. The reality is that no competitor has an obligation to promote an event it doesn’t own. ESPN’s job is to serve its audience and maximize the value of its own rights portfolio, the same way FOX would if the roles were reversed.
To its credit, ESPN is covering the FIFA World Cup with segments on nearly every program across the network. It’s not hiding from the biggest event currently in sports. Its motto is serving fans anytime, anyplace, anywhere. ESPN will continue to do so while working within the limitations of not being a rights holder, just as it has during previous World Cups.
If some FOX Sports executives don’t like that, I hope they address the issue internally rather than continue to air their frustrations publicly. FOX has the World Series, the Daytona 500, and several other high-profile sporting events. Are more executives going to come out complaining that “big brother” isn’t doing a good enough job?
If this is a real issue within the walls of FOX Sports, it should end immediately.
When you’re hosting one of the biggest sporting events on the planet and every measurable indicator is trending upward, worrying about how much airtime a rival network devotes to the product feels less like confidence and more like distraction.
FOX Sports shouldn’t be keeping score of ESPN’s coverage. It should be celebrating the fact that, for the next month, the world’s game has America’s attention.
Live and in living color on FOX Sports.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
