Fox and NBC parent Comcast reported earnings this morning, and listening to their analysts’ calls, it is striking how their messaging around sports could not be more different than Netflix, which reported earlier this month.
Netflix is by now a broken record on its calls: asked about bidding on major sports, the word they use is “eventize;” in other words build hype and anticipation around one event, be it an NFL game or a boxing fight. And sports is just one aspect in the events business, which Netflix is not shy to portray as a sliver of its overall entertainment business. So only one aspect of a minor part of the business.
Contrast that with Mike Cavanagh, the soon to be co-CEO Comcast, who in his opening remarks before analyst questions, said, “We’re proud of the sports portfolio we’ve built. Each property adds value across our entire media ecosystem, driving NBC distribution, helping Peacock attract and retain subscribers, and powering our advertising business. And as audiences continue to shift from linear to streaming, the multiple benefits of sports becomes an even greater advantage. Live sports continue to deliver strong viewership and ad performance across broadcast and streaming. Momentum at Peacock remains solid, and retention has held steady, even after our $3 price increase.”
NBC and Peacock have a murderers’ row of events coming in February with the Super Bowl, the winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star game (its Telemundo unit has Spanish language rights to the summer’s World Cup).
Or contrast with Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, who told analysts “From a content perspective… it’s probably not surprising that sports, and all sports, are tremendous attraction to the product and really drive some, a lot of uptake over the weekend, and then that flows into sort of those people once they’re on the platform assessing news and entertainment content during the week.”
Murdoch was talking about the months-old streaming service Fox One, which he again projected would only have a low to mid seven figure user base, although he declined to say how many subs had already signed on other than to describe the private figure as having exceeded expectations. But he may as well have been talking about sports across Fox’s platforms.
Sports is a key linchpin in most major media companies’ strategies, even though the costs keep going up. NBC just began its new NBA deal, and Comcast said expenses tied to the deal weighed down earnings, though adding in future years it would turn accretive.
Leagues are counting on the must-have nature of sports to continue to goose new media deals; it’s one reason the NFL is widely expected to opt out of its current media deals in three years, several years ahead of expiration. Those expectations are based in part not just on the legacy companies like Fox, NBC and CBS pouring more of their chips into sports, but streamer-only platforms like Netflix bellying up to the bar.
And they have to a lesser extent. Amazon has an array of properties, including the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package and now the NBA. Apple has MLS and just scored Formula One. Google’s YouTube has Sunday Ticket. But Netflix is showing hesitation (of course, it once pledged not to sell advertising, and here we are). Whether a streamer goes all in for a major package – like Fox’s NFL and MLB slate or the Sunday afternoon NFL windows – is the great unknown.
The streamers certainly can afford it. But as Netflix’s earnings calls show, sports right now is a nice-to-have element of its strategy, and to an extent that’s true for other native streamers. And conversely as Fox’s and Comcast’s calls show, sports is a must have for these outlets.
That may mean getting bigger is more crucial for the legacy broadcasters, which is why the new Paramount has been bidding on Warner Bros. Discovery. Comcast’s Kavanagh was asked about WBD, and replied “never say never” but he is content with the media company’s mix of assets.
But analyst Rich Greenfield tweeted, “Comcast Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh just confirmed that if Comcast does M&A with NBC Universal, it would be for assets WITHOUT cable networks sounds exactly like the spin/merge structure we proposed yesterday.” WBD is currently spinning off its cable assets, something Comcast is as well.
Comcast Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh just confirmed that if Comcast does M&A with NBC Universal, it would be for assets WITHOUT cable networks
sounds exactly like the spin/merge structure we proposed yesterday $CMCSA $WBD https://t.co/ExT0HfWH7w
— Rich Greenfield, LightShed 🔦 (@RichLightShed) October 30, 2025
“Comcast has always had Disney envy, and now it has a clear opportunity to create a Disney-like story, with an asset mix that could be even more compelling than Disney,” Greenfield wrote yesterday. “Investors and the press keep telling us all the reasons Comcast and Brian will not bid. Whereas all we think about is how can Comcast not take a shot, even if the risk is that Paramount and Ellison still outbid them by dramatically overpaying. This is a once in a generation opportunity for Brian Roberts and Comcast.”
About Daniel Kaplan
Daniel Kaplan has been covering the business of sports for more than two decades. A proud founding reporter of SportsBusiness Journal, he spent the last four years at The Athletic.