Major US broadcaster Fox brought in record revenue during the first quarter (Q1) of the 2027 financial year, thanks in part to a significant rise in advertising revenue during soccer's FIFA World Cup, to which Fox held exclusive US English-language rights.
For the three months up to September 30 this year, Fox Corp reported total quarterly revenue of $4.57 billion, a 22% year-on-year (YoY) increase.
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Advertising income rose YoY by 47%, as Fox's coverage of the World Cup – which was jointly hosted by the US, alongside Mexico and Canada, between mid-June and mid-July – bore fruit.
Overall distribution revenue, meanwhile, increased YoY by 9%.
Income also rose for both Fox's 'Cable Network Programming' and 'Television' segments in the quarter, with Cable Network Programming bringing in $1.8 billion, and Television's revenue coming to $2.7 billion.
Net income for Fox Corp across the three months amounted to $957 million, as compared to $609 million the prior year.
Finally, quarterly Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, or amortization) came to $1.64 billion, up by 54% ($576 million) from the prior year.
Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair and chief executive at Fox Corp, commented: "Fox has had an outstanding start to fiscal 2027 with first-quarter records for revenue and Adjusted EBITDA underpinned by robust growth in both advertising and distribution revenue.
"These record results, coupled with the strong momentum we are continuing to see across our business, give us confidence in delivering value for shareholders in a thoughtful and disciplined manner."
The World Cup – which took place across two financial quarters – also helped Fox record a 5% YoY revenue boost for the 2026 financial year, a 28% YoY boost in income for the fourth quarter.
Fox held English-language rights to the 2026 World Cup as part of a wider deal with the sport's global governing body FIFA that was unveiled as early as 2015 – an agreement that had a reported total value of $235 million.
Spanish-language rights, meanwhile, were held by NBC's Telemundo.
Fox (alongside Telemundo) contributed to a record 62.8 million people watching the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, with the Fox coverage in particular breaking the specific record for the most-watched soccer telecast in the US, ever, as well as the record for the most-watched World Cup final in the US.
The broadcasting of the World Cup – in which the US national team made it to the knockout stages – did also, however, led to higher sports production costs and expenses for Fox in Q1.
Just before FY26 ended, Fox disclosed a deal to buy Roku, the free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service, for $22 billion.
The Roku Channel offering now comes under the same umbrella as Tubi, Fox's own streaming platform that it bought in 2019 (and for which it launched an OTT sports platform in 2021).
