When the Fox Network gained the rights to NFC games in 1994, CBS employees became free agents. Madden was the biggest star in football broadcasting, and Fox, ABC, and NBC made offers higher than the $2 million a year maximum for sportscaster salaries; NBC's owner General Electric offered to make Madden its "worldwide spokesman", and GE Rail would build for him a luxury train. 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. Madden's Fox contract would have been worth $8 million for 2003. His last job at Fox was for Super Bowl XXXVI in February 2002.