Entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. and streaming provider FuboTV agreed Monday to merge their online live TV businesses.
The deal would combine Hulu + Live and the sports-heavy FuboTV and would clear the way for the launch of Venu Sports, a streaming venture from Disney’s ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox.
Venu Sports was originally supposed to launch this fall but was delayed by an antitrust lawsuit brought by Fubo. In August, a judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the new sports streaming service, saying it could ‘destroy competition and inflate prices for consumers.’ Hearings in the case were set to begin Monday.
Disney, Fox and Warner agreed to pay $220 million to Fubo to resolve the legal dispute. Disney also said it would provide a $145 million term loan to Fubo in 2026.
If the deal passes regulatory scrutiny, what would the Hulu + Live and FuboTV tie-up mean for sports fans? More choice and more complexity.
What Hulu + Live and FuboTV deal would mean for sports fans
The combined entity, which would be 70% owned by Disney, does not yet have a name. It would have more than 6 million subscribers, making it the second-largest all-digital TV service after YouTube TV.
On one hand, the deal would give sports fans more options for watching live sports.
As part of the deal, Fubo would be able to create a new sports and broadcast service with several Disney networks as well as its ESPN+ streaming service. Consumers would still be able to subscribe to Hulu + Live TV and Fubo separately.
ESPN also plans to launch a stand-alone ESPN streaming service Flagship later this year.
What about ESPN and Venu Sports?
Venu Sports said in August that its service would cost $43 a month and offer some of the most watched live sports on TV including the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NFL and college teams – significantly cheaper than a traditional cable bundle, which can cost $100 a month or more. Sports fans would be able to bundle Venu Sports with other services such as Disney+, Hulu or Max.
What’s coming? More choice and complexity
With the Hulu + Live and Fubo tie-up, sports fans would have more choices but would still have to navigate a highly fragmented marketplace because of the high-stakes competition for sports rights.
Sports dominate the most viewed programs on television so all players in the traditional and digital TV space compete for the rights to broadcast games from the NFL and other leagues to boost viewership. That means games are scattered across broadcast, cable and the internet, creating a confusing jumble for sports fans.
“Are consumers lacking options? No. But what consumers really want does not exist in the market and never will. They want one service to go and get every piece of sports content they could possibly ever get. That is not going to happen,” said Dan Rayburn, a streaming media industry analyst.
Will you have to pay more to stream live sports?
The Hulu + Live and Fubo deal could offer more options in piecing together a television line-up, but the cost of watching live sports keeps going up. Would this deal make things better or worse?
Rayburn said it is not yet clear. The bottom line: Higher subscription costs and frequent price hikes have become an unfortunate fact of streaming life, testing consumer loyalty.
Whether or not the deal goes through, consumers are unlikely to get a respite from the ever-increasing monthly subscription fees that can add up to hundreds of dollars.
“Every streaming service has raised pricing multiple times since their services launched, whether it’s on demand or live, and that is going to continue,” Rayburn said.
Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester, said consumers should brace for higher costs ‘as they piecemeal together their television lineups.’
What’s more, Proulx expects more deals in 2025 ‘as television’s distribution model shifts to be primarily online.’