Terry Bradshaw and Co. set for extra work in 2026 after FOX NFL power play
Terry Bradshaw and Co. set for extra work in 2026 after FOX NFL power play
Matthew NeschisMon, May 11, 2026 at 2:04 PM UTC
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The 'FOX NFL Sunday' crew is in line for more work after the network acquired two more games -Credit:Getty Images (Getty Images)
Terry Bradshaw and the cast of 'FOX NFL Sunday' characters are slated to take on more work after the network obtained two more games during the 2026 campaign.
During an investor call on Monday, FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced that the first of two regular-season contests in the acquisition would occur in Week 10. The company will broadcast an international game from Munich, Germany before continuing with its regular airing of early-afternoon and late-afternoon NFL slates — marking the first-ever “tripleheader” in television history.
The second game coming to FOX — whose owner, Rupert Murdoch, allegedly “lobbied” President Donald Trump to trigger a government probe into the NFL’s media rights deals — will take place in Week 15 on Saturday.
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Earlier this year, the NFL began shopping the broadcasting rights to four games that were previously part of ‘Monday Night Football’ doubleheaders, as well as a Week 1 game being played in Australia. Since the 2021 campaign, the league screened two contests simultaneously or three hours apart on Monday night.
During the league’s annual league meeting in Phoenix, NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder confirmed that ESPN will no longer broadcast overlapping games on Monday.
“When we did the deal [with Disney] five years ago, we thought adding two games on Monday night would be a great thing for fans,” Schroeder said at the time.
“It was more free football that was sort of outside of a Sunday afternoon. I think we collectively struggled and realized that fans felt that they were conflicted to choose between those games.”
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FOX Sports is slated to obtain two NFL games in Week 10 and Week 15 -Credit:Getty Images
Though initial reports suggested that the NFL would divide the doubleheader games between YouTube and Netflix, Puck's John Ourand claimed that YouTube "balked at the strategy" of splitting the package with the streaming giant.
While Netflix received three of the games on the market, the NFL offered the remaining two to its broadcast network partners CBS, NBC, ESPN, and FOX.
FOX ultimately won the sweepstakes, not long after its relationship with the NFL was thrust into the spotlight.
Last month, the DOJ initiated an investigation into the NFL's media rights agreements to assess whether the league's distribution strategy is compelling viewers to pay excessive amounts for games through escalating subscription costs. A bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal claimed that Rupert "lobbied" Trump to intervene in the situation.
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In recent years, several streaming platforms have acquired broadcasting rights to NFL games, including Amazon's Prime Video, Netflix and Peacock.
The surge of streaming services entering the football market has strained fans' wallets, with a Forbes calculation indicating that it could cost roughly $765 to stream every game during the 2025 season.
The accelerating migration of live sports programming to streaming platforms would also negatively affect broadcast networks, according to Murdoch. The Washington Post reported: "Murdoch and his top lieutenants warned Trump that if streamers gained rights to more games, it would kill broadcast networks (like Fox)."
Lachlan attempted to downplay the situation on Monday's call, insisting that: “There is no tension really with the NFL,” per Variety's Brian Steinberg.
Source: “AOL Money”
