Fubo will launch a new streaming television package that includes access to local and national sports channels in the coming weeks, executives at the sports-focused media company confirmed on Friday.
The confirmation comes several months after The Desk first reported that Fubo was developing a “Sports & Broadcasting” package slated to launch in the third quarter (Q3) of the year. On Friday, as part of the company’s Q2 earnings report, Fubo CEO David Gandler confirmed that the package — which is now called “Fubo Sports” — will launch in the next few weeks at “an attractive price point.”
Gandler and the company offered no additional details about when Fubo Sports will debut or how much it will cost. But an executive familiar with the development of the package told The Desk in March that the plan will include access to a subscriber’s local ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC stations or affiliates throughout most of the country, as well as national sports networks owned by the Walt Disney Company (ESPN), Fox Corporation (FS1, FS2), Comcast’s NBC Universal (Golf Channel, USA Network) and Paramount Global (CBS Sports Network).
On Friday, the executive — who asked to remain anonymous because they didn’t have approval to speak with a reporter — said Fubo is still developing the package with those channels in mind, adding that Fubo Sports will also include access to Disney’s sports streamer ESPN Plus and the ESPN Unlimited plan when it launches. Fubo is also working to include regional sports networks (RSNs) within the Fubo Sports package, though the company may be required to sell access to some RSNs for a separate fee, the executive affirmed.
Fubo is in the process of merging its pay TV business with that of Disney’s Hulu with Live TV, an arrangement that stemmed from an antitrust lawsuit filed against Disney last year. The lawsuit concerned Disney’s plan to participate in a joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) called Venu Sports, which was to offer sports-inclusive channels for around $50 per month. By contrast, Fubo and other pay TV companies were required to carry more-expensive news and entertainment channels that drove up the price of their services. Disney and others broadcasters have since eased up on those bundling arrangements, clearing the way for Fubo and its peers like DirecTV to bundle and sell channels based around genres like sports.
Last month, Fubo called for a shareholder vote on its transaction with Disney. The deal is also being scrutinized by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to some media reports.
Fubo and Disney are already discussing the various ways to unify their technical, billing and authentication platforms if the deal receives the approvals it needs, the executive source says. One plan calls for the Fubo app to serve as the “hub” for its own service and packages and that of Hulu with Live TV, the source said. That arrangement would bring Hulu’s 4.3 million live TV subscribers into Fubo’s app, which reaches more than 1.3 million customers.
Earlier this week, Disney CEO Robert Iger confirmed the company is in the process of winding down its standalone Hulu app in favor of distributing Hulu’s shows and movies through a content tile on Disney Plus, though separate subscriptions to Hulu and Disney will continue to be sold for some time. By moving Hulu’s live TV channels to Fubo, Disney can sunset its Hulu app more quickly without having to deprive Hulu subscribers of their channels or integrating the linear streams into Disney Plus, the source said.
That is easier said than done. For one, Hulu and Fubo use different technology for billing and authentication — the system that allows customers to pay for and log in to their accounts across both apps. Disney is already working with Fubo on the authentication part, and will soon allow current Fubo subscribers to access ESPN Plus as part of their pay TV package, the source said. Fubo customers will have to create an account on the “MyDisney” platform in order to watch sports and documentaries on ESPN Plus.
Fubo and Disney are also sifting through their distribution agreements with other broadcasters to ensure that nothing prevents the integration of Hulu’s live TV channels into the Fubo app, the source affirmed. Both services carry many of the same channels, but Hulu with Live TV includes cable networks from WBD like CNN, TBS and TNT that have been unavailable to Fubo subscribers for several years.
Shortly after Fubo and Disney announced their pay TV merger, Fubo and WBD restarted informal discussions about bringing those missing channels back to the platform, The Desk reported earlier this year. Those discussions have not yielded a new agreement, and the matter has been further complicated by WBD’s intention to spin out its cable networks into a separate business by the middle of next year.
Fubo is hoping its deal with Disney closes in the early part of 2026, and the company isn’t waiting for WBD to get its own house in order. One plan being considered by the company is to sell Fubo Sports without the WBD channels, and retire Fubo’s basic package in favor of launching a new one that could be called “Fubo with Hulu,” the source confirmed. Fubo with Hulu would restore WBD channels to the app under the broadcaster’s arrangement with Disney, though doing so would cause the price of Fubo’s base package to increase.
Still, Fubo would market its new Hulu-branded package as a benefit to streamers by including access to Disney’s three streaming services at no extra cost. The current Hulu with Live TV includes access to the ad-supported “Disney Trio” bundle, which consists of Hulu’s on-demand library, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus.
