In an interview today with CNBC, fuboTV CEO David Gandler spoke about new features that will help differentiate his streaming service from the competition. It’s no secret fuboTV has marketed itself as a sports-first destination, and its gambling ambitions go hand-in-hand with that push.
Gandler spoke about interactive elements coming to fuboTV starting Thursday during the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying games. “Interactivity is about creating free-to-play games where you can answer questions to win prizes,” Gandler said. “And that will lead to greater engagement. We’ve already stated that engagement levels are up 30-37% on connected devices when you factor in interactive elements into the video.”
It remains to be seen if fuboTV’s interactive ambitions might lie beyond sports betting. They could be a natural fit for the Academy Awards or other live programming. Presumably, if fuboTV can get users to download an app and engage with the platform, those users might be more willing to engage in the betting aspect of the service in the future. “Interactivity is a great way for us to identify and isolate customers that we can target later at a more efficient cost of acquisition,” Gandler said.
He also spoke about the service’s upcoming connected sports betting app. “As you change channels, your betslip changes. So it’s just fewer steps,” Gandler said. “And we think as we get into the process with the regulators, we will start to iterate very quickly to create a very interactive user experience that is simplified for people that don’t really understand (betting) lines.” Gambling has always had a high barrier to entry, so simplifying that experience will make sense in the push to bring in new players.
The data pulled in from fuboTV’s platform may fuel future growth, as well. “We control the end-to-end solution and are able to manage all that data,” Gandler said. “Most companies are not allowed to share data. There are privacy rules that regulate the way we’re allowed to leverage data. We don’t have that issue and we think we’re going to build a phenomenal user experience over the next 24-to-36 months.”