Roku has officially launched a new bundle that pairs one of its streaming hardware devices with 30 days of access to Fox Corporation’s streaming service Fox One.
The bundle was first announced earlier this week when Roku debuted a new sports-focused portal called the Soccer Zone, timed to coincide close to the start of the FIFA World Cup men’s soccer tournament, which will air on Fox-owned channels on June 11.
The offer pairs a Roku Streaming Stick Plus with Fox One for a one-time payment of $25. By comparison, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus on its own costs $40, while Fox One costs $20 per month — so the bundle is a particularly good deal for soccer fans who want to stream the FIFA World Cup tournament through mid-July and who might consider paying for Fox One to do so.
The Fox One subscription offered through the bundle automatically renews at $20 per month, billed to the same payment method on file with Roku. Streamers can avoid ongoing charges by canceling the service within the first 30 days.
The bundle is clearly designed to get soccer fans interested in the FIFA World Cup tournament using Roku’s streaming hardware, with the company hoping that the low cost of the Roku Streaming Stick Plus will entice streamers to use its platform over the long term. Roku’s subscription and advertising business generated more than $1.1 billion during the company’s most-recent financial quarter, outpacing hardware sales by a factor of 10.
Roku says its streaming devices and smart TVs are used by more than 100 million customers around the world. The majority of its users are based in the United States, though the company also sells hardware in parts of Latin America and Europe.
Last month, Roku added the Fox One service to its subscription marketplace, which is accessed within The Roku Channel. Fox has the exclusive English-language rights to the FIFA World Cup men’s soccer tournament, with all games airing on the Fox network, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2. Fox One includes streaming access to those channels and others.
