By Tariq Panja
Bloomberg.com | September 17, 2013
“Fox Sports, which agreed to pay a record fee for U.S. broadcast rights to soccer’s World Cup, opposes plans by the sport’s governing body to reschedule the 2022 event in Qatar, two people familiar with the matter said.
James Murdoch, the son of 21st Century Fox Inc. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, and other network executives told FIFA that moving the competition by several months from its usual June start to the winter would clash with National Football League games, according to one person familiar with the matter. The people requested anonymity because the talks were private.
FIFA’s executive board is meeting next month to discuss a proposal by the Zurich-based organization’s president,Sepp Blatter, to reschedule the tournament because of the high temperatures in Qatar. Fox in 2011 agreed to pay $425 million for the two-tournament, 2018-22 package, more than four times what current rights holder ESPN paid for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and next year’s edition in Brazil.”
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