Fubo

Fubo started in January 2015 as a tiny streaming service for die-hard soccer fans, offering just one channel, beIN Sports. The founders, David Gandler, Sung Ho Choi, and Alberto Horihuela, saw that cord-cutters who loved the beautiful game had nowhere to go. Within two years, they had added more soccer leagues and built a loyal following. But the real pivot came in 2017, when Fubo decided to become a full virtual cable provider, stacking on ESPN, Fox Sports, and NBC Sports alongside its soccer roots. By 2019, the company dropped its dedicated soccer tier entirely to compete head-to-head with YouTube TV and Sling TV. Going public via a SPAC merger in October 2020 gave it the cash to go after bigger rights and more subscribers.

Today, Fubo carries over 200 live channels and markets itself as a sports-first alternative to cable. You get NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, college sports, international soccer, and even niche offerings like boxing and motorsports. The service includes a 1,000-hour cloud DVR and lets you watch on up to ten screens at once, which is handy for a household full of fans. In 2023, Fubo launched a free, ad-supported tier called Fubo Free, and it experimented with a sportsbook that it shut down in late 2022 to refocus on streaming.

Fubo's biggest challenge is the same one every live TV streamer faces: the soaring cost of sports rights. Its base plan jumped from $64.99 a month in 2022 to $79.99 in 2024, which sparked some backlash. The company also sued Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery over the planned Venu Sports joint venture, settling in early 2024 for $145 million. As of Q3 2024, Fubo had about 1.6 million paid subscribers in North America, putting it behind YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV but still a solid player in the sports streaming space. The company is headquartered in New York City's Flatiron District, with offices in Denver and a small presence in Canada and Spain.[edit]