Fubo shakes up subscriptions with free and premium options

By Phil Nickinson Published October 22, 2024

Fubo — as part of what it’s calling a “Super Aggregation strategy” — today announced that you can now subscribe to other premium subscription services through Fubo, without having a subscription to Fubo itself. Yeah, it’s a little odd.

Here’s the gist: “Premium” options (which really just means “for a separate fee”) such as FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass, and Paramount+ With Showtime have traditionally been available as add-ons to a Fubo subscription. New is that you can sign up for them through Fubo, which also will tack on Fubo Free. That last bit is Fubo’s take on the free ad-supported television movement, which has more than 170 channels and on-demand content. The twist is that Fubo Free had previously only been available to former Fubo subscribers, as a way to potentially get them back on a paying track.

And all that means Fubo now has three tracks by which to entice customers. There’s the traditional Fubo subscription plans, the new standalone premium subscriptions, and Fubo Free. The company also says it’s looking into pay-per-view options, transactional video on demand (which is sort of the same thing, but can include other PPV flavors such as rentals or more permanent sales), and other “skinny bundles” of content.

Fubo said additional standalone premium subscription services would be announced later.

Fubo’s main subscription product costs $80 a month for nearly 200 channels and unlimited recording. It has additional plans with additional channels at $100 and $110 a month. Fubo is available on every major streaming platform. It’s the smallest of the four major live options in the U.S. at 1.45 million subscribers as of mid-2024.