 After he almost joined ABC, Madden and Summerall joined Fox's NFL coverage, giving the network credibility to broadcast what Rupert Murdoch called "the crown jewel of all sports programming in the world".Madden's contract paid him more annually than any NFL player.However, Fox was reportedly losing an estimated $4.4 billion on its NFL contract for the eight-year deal it signed in 1998, and it had been trying to cut programming costs as a result.