Fox, FIFA talked about effects of 2022 date shift

NEW YORK (AP) — A Fox Sports executive says the company has talked to FIFA about the ramifications of possibly shifting the dates of the 2022 World Cup.

Fox Sports President Eric Shanks declined to discuss Monday whether the network has protections in its rights deal should the tournament calendar change. If the 2022 World Cup is moved from the summer to the fall because of the dangers of the heat in host nation Qatar, the broadcasts on Fox would face far more competition in the U.S. from other sports on TV.

Shanks says: "You go into buying a World Cup and you believe it's going to be in the same time frame it's always been."

In the fall, the tournament would go up against the hugely popular NFL and college football.