Fubo Gaming Taking Sports Consumption to the Next Level

Although it's fair to say that Fubo might not reach the likes of FanDuel and DraftKings in the battle between North America’s most well-known sportsbooks, Fubo will always have something others do not with their Watch & Wager model. 

As of now, the company's subsidiary, Fubo Gaming, has now got market access for Fubo Sportsbook in 10 states: Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio when it goes live and Texas, provided it passes sports betting legislation.

What’s more, with its aim to integrate streaming and wagering/iGaming into one dimension, Fubo Gaming launched pick'em games in June, including free games and real money wagering into the live TV streaming experience with FuboTV.

This now means that subscribers can scan a QR code on their device when watching FuboTV to get access to Fubo Sportsbook in markets where they operate, allowing viewers to place real money wagers on a sport they are watching live and get access to all sorts of games to play. 

It brings to North America a first of its kind where users can watch sports live and wager with their chosen picks on a variety of markets, all without having to move from the comfort of their own couch or switch channels or devices.

It doesn’t matter what sport you’re watching, if Fubo Sportsbook is legal in that state, while watching FuboTV live sports, you’ll be able to take a seat, see the latest odds, and watch the action unfold with a wager on the game.

Fubo’s Unique Outlook Continues to Prove its Worth

On Aug. 4, FuboTV released their second quarterly earnings of 2022 which saw 947K subscribers in North America, which was an increase of 41% year-over-year. 

The company also reported revenues of $216.1 million during the same period, while their streaming business outside of North America (France, Spain) closed the quarter ahead of expectations with approximately 347,000 total paid subscribers and $5.8 million in total revenue.

For a company that is still figuring out the best ways to use its unrivaled sportsbook-streaming platform combination, the growth is showing no signs of slowing down. 

As more rights for sports streaming come available to FuboTV, just as Fubo Sportsbook continues to develop as states legalize sports betting, we are set to see Fubo’s unique model make its way into many homes across North America over time and set a new trend of how we consume sports betting and the sports action.

Conversation with Fubo's Scott Butera

We spoke with the President of Fubo Gaming, Scott Butera, to get the latest on the groundbreaking moves of FuboTV and Fubo Sportsbook. 

GDC: Why merging the sportsbook with the live game coverage is so groundbreaking?

SB: “We believe in the strong relationship between watching and wagering on sports, which is why Fubo Sportsbook, the first owned-and-operated sports wagering platform with a live TV streaming experience in the U.S., is designed and developed to combine these two elements.

Consumers want convenience and they also want to feel like they have a stake in the game. Sports entertainment and wagering do not exist as separate entities in the minds of consumers, and yet that's how they've long been developed. Our wagering platform aims to increase interactivity by delivering wagering and viewing all in one ecosystem. We have a proprietary feature that leverages FuboTV’s first-party user data to engage participants by recommending relevant bets based upon what they are streaming, even as they change the channel.

We’re, in fact, already seeing encouraging early signs of the flywheel effect between FuboTV and Fubo Sportsbook with crossover users on average placing a greater number of bets and having higher retention rates on the sportsbook than sportsbook-only players, which validates our thesis around the strength of a fully unified experience. We intend to continue iterating our app, launching additional features that will further integrate wagering into the FuboTV platform, to create even more immersive and personalized experiences.”

GDC: If this is the next stage in sports betting, what else can we expect in the future to enhance our experiences?

SB: “The legal sports wagering industry in the U.S. is in its infancy, with a lot of opportunity for growth.  I think we will see more partnerships between teams and leagues and sportsbooks, as well as sports betting-related content being created and distributed by sports teams to meet the shifting demand in consumer behavior - who more than ever want to feel part of the action.”