Live soccer matches used to mean a headache for cord-cutters. You either paid exorbitant cable fees or hunted down sketchy streams. That changed dramatically during the recent FIFA Men's World Cup, which turned out to be an absolute financial windfall for Fox Corporation.
Fox just dropped its fourth-quarter earnings report for fiscal 2026, and the numbers are staggering. Total revenue surged 28% to $4.2 billion, blowing past Wall Street predictions. The main engine behind this growth? A 78% explosion in advertising revenue fueled directly by the soccer tournament, massive local political spending, and the surging dominance of free ad-supported streaming.
If you want to understand how modern media conglomerates survive the death of traditional cable, look no further than how Fox integrated Tubi and its new digital strategy into the world's biggest sporting event.
How Tubi Won the World Cup Without Charging a Dime
Most traditional broadcasters hide their premium sports behind pricey paywalls. Fox took a different route with Tubi, its free ad-supported streaming platform.
Instead of locking everything away, Tubi launched a dedicated FIFA World Cup FOX Hub. The platform simulcast key matches—including the opening ceremony and marquee group stage games like Mexico versus South Africa and the United States versus Paraguay—completely free in 4K.
It worked brilliantly. Tubi's revenue jumped 35% during the period, and total viewing time increased by 17%. More importantly, the World Cup hub drew over 20 million viewers, driving some of the highest-traffic days in the platform's history.
CEO Lachlan Murdoch pointed out a crucial detail during the earnings call: nearly 70% of Tubi's audience consists of cordless viewers—either cord-cutters or cord-nevers. Advertisers desperately want to reach this demographic, and Tubi delivered them at a massive scale without inflating ad rates.
The Broadcast and Streaming Ecosystem Payoff
Fox didn't rely solely on free streaming. The media giant structured a multi-tiered ecosystem that captured every type of sports consumer.
For traditionalists and cord-cutters willing to pay for comprehensive access, Fox offered the newly minted direct-to-consumer service FOX One alongside traditional network broadcasts. Meanwhile, the massive influx of brands trying to reach soccer fans drove 30-second spot prices up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, resulting in total TV segment revenue soaring 45%.
People assumed live sports broadcasting was a dying art weighed down by declining cable subscriptions. Fox proved that if you own the right rights and distribute them across a hybrid model of free ad-supported streaming and broadcast TV, brands will line up to spend money.
What Media Strategists Can Learn From Fox's Playbook
If you manage media budgets or study content distribution, this quarter offers a masterclass in modern audience capture.
- Meet viewers where they are: Don't force a single subscription model. Fox used broadcast TV for mass reach, FOX One for dedicated fans, and Tubi for younger, cordless demographics.
- Build hubs, not just feeds: Tubi didn't just dump live matches onto a screen. They created an interactive hub featuring original docuseries, daily highlights, and creator commentary that kept users engaged between matches.
- Keep ad pricing sensible: Instead of gouging brands with unsustainable rate hikes, Tubi maintained efficient pricing that drove a 35% revenue increase while keeping advertisers happy.
The World Cup comes around every four years, but the infrastructure Fox built around Tubi and digital streaming is here to stay. Traditional television isn't dead, but it has to share the stage with free streaming.
