Forget the Chiefs and the Eagles: Fox expects to be a big winner on Super Bowl Sunday.
During Fox’s quarterly earnings call with analysts Wednesday, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the company expects to rake in $600 million in ad revenue on Super Sunday alone.
He said Fox will record records for both total Super Bowl LVII revenue as well as a record-setting price per commercial, although achieving that was a bit harrowing because of crypto companies that had committed to buy spots dropped out of the game.
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Last year, NBCUniversal said the Super Bowl brought in $519 million.
While others in the industry remain concerned about a weak ad market, Murdoch said even without including the Super Bowl, Fox’s ad revenue in the current quarter is up.
“There’s a lot of talk about the ad market being soft. We’re not seeing that,” he said. He called the market “fluid,” and said ad money was coming in later than usual.
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“At the end of the day, we’re still hitting our goals and achieving our revenue targets. It’s just coming in late,” he said. “Being in news and sports sets us apart in the advertising marketplace.”
Fox’s streaming platform Tubi saw a 25% increase in revenue in the quarter, and bigger gains in terms of monthly users and engagement, which he said bodes well for continued revenue growth.
Murdoch also saw promising signs at Fox’s local-station business, with many important categories increasing their spending.
He said automotive was pacing up 30%, health was also up 30%, pharmaceuticals were up 45% and travel up 60%. That’s offset by a lack of crypto spending from last year, but “all the key categories are behaving in a very strong way.” ■
