Fox unveils new product for the cordless community | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

The NFL has never been more popular than it is right now.

Interest in the game has expanded past the product on the field as, thanks to social media, athletes have become bigger celebrities in their own right.

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Ancillary events like the NFL draft have become must-see television. This year, nearly 14 million people tuned into the opening night of the NFL draft.

For comparison, a recent NBA Playoffs game between the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves averaged 4.96 million viewers.

While Netflix has emerged as the early winner of the streaming wars, legacy media companies have begun to fight back.

Disney (DIS) launched Disney+ years ago, but relative newcomers like Paramount+ from CBS Viacom (PARA) and Peacock from Comcast NBCUniversal (CMCSA) show that broadcasters are not ready to concede U.S. eyeballs to Netflix.

During its earnings call this week, Comcast admitted that sports are the key to unlocking Peacock’s future.

NBC pays the NFL $2 billion annually for the right to broadcast games. It pays the Premier League another $450 million annually and billions more for the rights to the Olympics every two years.

Fox (FOXA) , the last of the four major broadcast networks, is launching its own streaming product this fall, and like its rivals, the company will rely heavily on sports to drive subs.

Fox Sports will be a big part of the new Fox streaming service.

Image source&colon; Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Fox to launch streaming service ahead of NFL season

This week Fox Corp. let the investment community know its streaming plans when it revealed that Fox One will debut in the fall ahead of the start of the NFL season in September.

Fox One will include programming from Fox News, Fox Sports, and other programming from what is left of Fox’s broadcast business.

The company did not say how much the service will cost, but it did emphasize that the service will not be designed to cannibalize Fox News, which is by far cable’s most-watched news network.

“We do not want to lose a traditional cable subscriber to Fox One,” said CEO Lachlan Murdoch. Instead, Fox One will be aimed at the “cordless community” that has eschewed buying a cable package.

Fox will look to form partnerships to bundle Fox One with other streamers.

Fox pays a hefty price for the Super Bowl

Fox reported a third quarter profit of $346 million, or 75 cents per share, a steep decline from the $666 million, or $1.40 per share, the company made a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, Fox made $1.10 per share in the quarter.

Much of that decline in profit was due to higher expenses as revenue rose 27% in the quarter to $4.37 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of 92 cents per share on revenue of $4.19 billion.

Much of the gains were driven by its cable news division — Fox News, Fox Business, and Fox Sports 1.

But the reason for the dip in profit was that Fox hosted the Super Bowl this year.

Fox saw its operating costs jump 45% in the first quarter thanks to the big game. And while Fox was able to charge as much as $8 million for a 30-second ad during the game, there are still major costs to putting on the show, on top of the $2.2 billion Fox pays the NFL annually for the games.

Fox was able to generate a record $800 million in ad revenue for Super Bowl LIX.

Fox also reported higher expenses for digital content and marketing. Overhead expenses jumped 8% in the quarter.