It is "nearly impossible to overstate the importance of professional sports to New Fox" as the company reshapes its identity after completing the sale of most of its assets to Disney, according to Scott Soshnick of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Decades after former Fox Exec Chair Rupert Murdoch "used NFL games to draw an audience to his fledgling media company, New Fox is banking" on what Fox Sports CEO & Exec Producer Eric Shanks called a "foundation of predictability" that sports can provide. Even with the NFL's "carousel of controversies, professional football still draws the biggest audiences on TV." Fox completed its first season of “TNF” this past week, with "higher ratings than last year" when it aired on CBS and NBC. The "key for Fox" -- between its NFL and college football coverage -- is that football is "played during what Shanks called the most valuable part of the year." Fox "owns the rights to other events and leagues," including WWE, which signed a five-year deal this summer to put “SmackDown Live” on Fox on Friday nights. Besides the World Cup, MLS, college basketball and NASCAR rights, Fox also "shows bowling and Premier Boxing Champions, which is sometimes offered via pay-per-view." There is "one big question mark in the future of Fox Sports" regarding the company's RSNs that Disney will sell off. It is "not yet clear who will acquire the networks, and it’s possible that some may wind up back at New Fox" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 12/19).
