Fubo CEO Confident Subscribers Will Pay Higher Prices for More Sports; Aggregation Is Key to Industry’s Future
Many of the major live TV streaming services have raised their prices in the past six months, and fuboTV is no exception. The sports-centric streaming platform increased its subscription costs by $5 for both of their price tiers in the first week of January.
Fubo CEO David Gandler appeared on the “Inside the Stream” podcast to discuss a wide range of topics recently, and the price increases at virtual multi-channel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) like fuboTV naturally came up.
Gandler defended his company’s price increases, pointing out that fuboTV offers more regional sports networks (RSNs) than any other live streaming service on the market, saying that the only way to get an equivalent amount is via a cable or satellite company.
“I think we have largest portfolio of RSNs in the United States from a virtual perspective,” Gandler said. “If not, we’re certainly a top two player.”
The allusion to being a “top two player” is likely a reference to DIRECTV STREAM, which also offers a wide variety of RSNs. DIRECTV STREAM is the only company that currently offers Bally Sports RSNs, though fuboTV recently came to an agreement with Bally Sports to add the networks to its service as well. Fubo has not announced a specific date for when those RSNs will be available, but that announcement is expected very soon.
Gandler acknowledged price increases are usually the last thing customers want to see, but he sees fuboTV users as unique in the sense that they have a better understanding of the value of live sports. Since around 98% of Fubo users will have access to at least one RSN when the Bally Sports networks are added, Gandler thinks they’ll see the added value accompanying cost increases and stick with the streamer instead of churning away, especially since the RSNs are part of the base Pro plan.
“The reason we’ve put those RSNs in the base package is because 96% of our user base consumes sports,” he said. “So for us, this makes a lot of sense, I would argue for most services it doesn’t make a lot of sense because most services are geared toward general entertainment. There seems to be more pricing power in a package where people understand the value of sports.”
Gandler also spoke about the future of sports streaming, and the entrance of platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV+ into the live sports realm. He believes that the friction generated currently by having to switch between apps to watch different sports gives fuboTV an advantage, and that aggregation is crucial for sports to make the switch from broadcast to streaming.
“In order for sports to be successful [on streaming], people need to have one app where everything is aggregated, he said.
Gandler stopped short of saying that he thought Fubo was the ideal platform for aggregation, but he did point out that vMVPDs offer less friction and app switching due to the number of channels they offer. The discussions of how to make sports on streaming more successful will continue in the coming years, but it’s CEOs like Gandler who will be at the forefront of making those decisions, so his words carry definite heft.
Fubo
Fubo is a live TV streaming service with about 90 top channels that start at $79.99 per month. This plan includes local channels, 25 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs). In total, you should expect to pay about $91.99 per month, after adding in their RSN Fee. Fubo was previously known as “fuboTV.”