Fox Sports staff in L.A. is "bracing for a wave of possible budget cutbacks due to disappointing NFL advertising sales," according to sources cited by Michael McCarthy of SPORTING NEWS. Another factor is with the USMNT missing the '18 FIFA World Cup, Fox "can't count on soccer ad dollars next year to get well." The "high hopes Fox had for a World Cup advertising home run ... vanished" when the USMNT failed to qualify for the first time since '86. Sources said that Fox likely "will not send Skip Bayless, Shannon Sharpe and other FS1 stars on location in Minnesota" for Super Bowl LII, as NBC will televise the game. The move comes after Fox sent "all of its studio shows to Houston" last year for Super Bowl LI, which it broadcast. Nets often "adjust budgets based on rising/falling ad sales," but few people at Fox "expected a serious downturn from pro football." One bright spot for Fox has been the "advertising windfall" from both the Astros-Dodgers and Cubs-Indians World Series the last two years going a full seven games (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 12/11).
