Fox’s prices are higher than in the previous World Cup in 2014, when Walt Disney Co. aired the tournament on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, according to another buyer, who also asked not to be identified.

And Fox says any gloominess in the outlook when the U.S. was eliminated has been mitigated by strong demand.

“Everyone’s initial reaction was the loss of the U.S. would have a negative impact,” Sullivan said. “But what’s happened around the World Cup is the advertisers tend to be big, global brands -- that’s what we’ve seen. They want to be there when there is a big global event. That kept their appetite strong.”

Overall, the U.S. team’s no-show should depress domestic ad sales across TV and the internet by as much as $100 million, according to the ad-buying firm Zenith. TV networks can charge a premium when the U.S. team plays, which also helps attract fans to other games, highlight shows and online outlets.

Fox Deportes
Fox has scrapped plans to program related soccer content on Fox Deportes, its Spanish-language channel. Telemundo holds the rights to broadcast the games in Spanish, and Fox had originally planned to offer ancillary programming, one of the ad buyers said.

Fox surprised the soccer world in 2011 by outbidding ESPN for TV rights to the World Cup. ESPN aired the popular sporting event between 1994 and 2014 and vied to keep the games for 2018 and 2022.

But Fox bid more, confident in the rising popularity of soccer in the U.S., where football is the most popular sport. The six most-watched World Cup matches in the U.S. have all happened within the past decade. Four of those included the home team.

Network executives have since embraced Mexico as America’s second team. They also argue that many soccer fans, especially young ones, are more attached to stars from other countries than their own national team.

Foreign Players
Broadcasts of foreign leagues and social media have enabled fans to track players all over the world. The best-selling jerseys in the U.S. belong to Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentine Lionel Messi, not Clint Dempsey.

“National teams are less important than they used to be,” said Simon Kuper, co-author of Soccernomics. “The U.S. is a country where there’s always been lots of viewing of other national teams due to immigrants and a large hustler culture. You’re also seeing millennials detaching more and more from their national team. They’ve been raised with global soccer.”