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Fox Sports thinks a big football lineup starting this weekend will help Madison Avenue achieve many of its goals.
„We feel like this is must-see television for the summer,” Fox Sports senior vice president of ad sales Mike Petruzzi said in an interview.
Beginning on Friday, June 14 and continuing through Sunday, July 14, Fox Sports will air not only its first presentation of UEFA EURO, but also an expanded version of the Copa America, where the US Men’s National Team will face top opponents. In a single 30-day stretch, Fox Sports will offer a schedule of 78 games out of 223 hours of live football programming broadcast across Fox, FS1 and FS2. Euro games are often broadcast in the morning and afternoon, while the Copa matches are in the afternoon and prime time. The Copa matches begin telecast on Thursday, June 20.
„It’s almost like a dry run for the World Cup in the summer of 2026,” Petruzzi says.
Fox has been building its portfolio of soccer rights over the past several years. Even so, the 2026 World Cup will mark its last chance to broadcast soccer under its current deal, and a successful start with the Euros and Copa will give the company a boost when it comes to selling time for the 2026 tournament. NBCUniversal’s Telemundo has the Spanish-language broadcast rights to the event.
Autos, insurance and consumer electronics are active buyers of commercial inventory, the executive says, with some demand from marketers of financial-services, movies and streaming programs.
„We are very tight in some big matches,” he added.