World Cup trophy ceremony: Fox's decision to boot Argentina's celebration to FS1 in favor of NFL called 'criminal'

Joe Rivera

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World Cup trophy ceremony: Fox's decision to boot Argentina's celebration to FS1 in favor of NFL called 'criminal' image

In the United States, football — not football — is still king.

While there were hundreds of millions around the world watching the Leo Messi and Argentina win the World Cup on Sunday morning into afternoon, there were, likely, millions in the United States waiting for the afternoon slate of NFL games.

As the clock inched ever-uncomfortably towards 1 p.m. ET start for those games, Gonzalo Matiel netted the Cup-winning goal for Argentina. In the minutes that followed Argentina's victory over France, though, a business decision was made: Rather than stick with the World Cup fallout and trophy presentation on the flagship Fox station, the powers that be opted to switch over to FS1, Fox's sports-devoted underling station, in the midst of the chaos.

MORE: Who has won the most World Cups? Messi gets first, solidifies legacy

Viewers who stuck to Fox were greeted by Jaguars-Cowboys, Falcons-Saints or Eagles-Bears depending on your market. That's hardly a slate of games worthy of the Fox flagship, but perhaps in the United States it is.

Fox has the rights to broadcast a variety of sports, including the NFL, and they may choose to air some NFL games on FS1 as part of their programming schedule. It's not uncommon for rights holders with a family of networks (ESPN to ESPN2 to ESPNU to ESPNNews, for instance) to begin its broadcast on a sister network until the event currently airing reaches its conclusion. FS1 did have World Cup programming scheduled at 1pm ET, so it's possible that Fox programmers considered the transition to another network a win-win. 

Needless to say, the decision to move on from Fox to FS1 in favor of the NFL was met with ire from sports fans.

Joe Rivera

Joe Rivera Photo

Joe Rivera is in his seventh year with The Sporting News, handling NFL, MLB and some things pro wrestling. A proud-ish Rutgers University graduate, Rivera combines a new-school flair with an old-school soul. He loves dingers, wrestling, comic books, movies, music and really bad puns. He is also a card-carrying BBWAA member and teaches Multimedia Sports Reporting at his alma mater.

You can find him and tweet him @JoeRiveraSN, if you're into that sort of thing.