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>Fox is in the process of scoping a year-round Friday night sports showcase that would rely heavily on college football and basketball and possibly MLB.
>Many tie Fox’s funding of Washington and Oregon’s addition to the Big Ten as a catalyst to not renewing Smackdown.
>Bob Thompson, former Fox Sports President and co-founder of the Big Ten Network, spoke on how likely he thought it was that Fox may look to fill the Smackdown void on the schedule with year-round, or as close to year-round sports.
>“I would expect college football in September and early October,” said Thompson. “MLB LCS and World Series mid-October to early November. Maybe a bit more college football in November then roll into Big Ten, Big 12, and Big East college basketball in December through early March. Possible that we could see games from the merged USFL/XFL in the spring/early summer. Maybe they work with MLB to air some Friday night games in the summer, assuming they can work around the AppleTV+ deal.”
>Thompson’s explanation of the motivation for a Friday night sports package essentially doubles down in a new way as to why Fox initially looked to have those properties.
>“Friday night HUT (households using television) levels are historically low,” Thompson said. “Fox already owns this content so why go spend additional programming dollars on a low-usage night when you already have this content in-house? As scripted dramas continue to be the bedrock of streaming services, I would expect sports content and reality-type programming/game shows will continue to be the mainstays of broadcast network programming.”
tl;dr Fox couldn't afford to outbid USA's $1.4 billy offer
