NEW YORK -- Sports has slowly crept in and become a focal point of the annual TV Upfront week in recent years, and that theme continued on Monday afternoon as both Fox and Amazon leaned into both live and scripted sports programming.
Both football (mostly the NFL) and futbol (via the World Cup) drove the conversation for Fox and Amazon, as NBC earlier in the day mostly focused on its entertainment programming. At the New York City Center, Tom Brady opened and closed the ceremonies for Fox, teasing its college and NFL programming, including breaking news that the Eagles would go on the road to face the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
Brady was joined by his former teammate Rob Gronkowski, who along with Jameis Winston announced a weekly soccer show, “The Other Football,” that will air on the Fox-owned streaming platform Tubi around this summer’s World Cup.
Michael Strahan also promoted Fox’s World Cup coverage, spanning 70 matches on Fox and 34 more on FS1. Strahan even dove into viewership, noting the network was expecting around 15 million viewers for each match involving Team USA. Strahan introduced comedian James Corden, who’s joining Fox to host a daily World Cup show, “After Hours,” following the completion of each day’s play.
Meanwhile, Amazon had football news of its own, as its “Thursday Night Football” opener in 2026 will see the Lions visiting the Bills in Highmark Stadium’s first regular season game. Charissa Thompson weaved through Prime’s sports offerings at the Beacon Theater alongside Andrew Whitworth and Ryan Fitzpatrick. NFL MVP Matthew Stafford also joined the trio on stage to talk about Prime’s sports offerings.
Actor and producer Michael B. Jordan promoted a new Muhammad Ali series, “The Greatest,” debuting later this year. Jordan was joined on stage by Ali’s wife, Lonnie, and actor Jaalen Best, who portrayed the late boxer in his younger years.
The afternoon and evening Upfront presentations were filled with celebrities. Among those spotted either on or off stage: Oprah Winfrey, Patrick Dempsey, Jon Hamm, Chris Pratt, Diplo, Kacey Musgraves, Livvy Dunne and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
