FuboTV shuts down its nascent gambling business

FuboTV today announced some preliminary financials for the third quarter of 2022 that show higher-than-expected growth, “continued progression” toward becoming a profitable business, and the shuttering of its nascent gambling service.

First, the good: FuboTV says its Q3 numbers will be better than it thought, with at least 1.22 million total subscribers. That’s up from just under 947,000 subs at the end of the second quarter and an increase of more than 27% year over year. (FuboTV prefers year over year numbers because of the seasonal nature of sports viewing, which makes up a good portion of its strategic plans.)

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North American revenue is expected to hit at least $210 million, up 34 percent year over year.

“FuboTV’s strong preliminary third quarter 2022 results reflect meaningful advancements against our continued mission to profitably scale a leading global live TV streaming platform differentiated by the greatest breadth of premium content and interactivity,” said David Gandler, co-founder and CEO of FuboTV. “We expect to deliver strong revenue and subscriber growth in Q3, exceeding our previously issued guidance in North America, against the backdrop of a highly competitive operating environment.”

FuboTV remains the smallest of the full streaming services in the United States, though it’s definitely gaining ground on the likes of Sling TV, which is the next biggest at about 2.2 million subscribers. (FuboTV probably also is larger than DirectTV stream, though it hasn’t given any new numbers since leaving its AT&T ownership.) FuboTV’s plans start at $70 a month for 131 channels, with 1,000 hours of video recording. FuboTV is available on every major streaming platform.

On the other side of the ledger was the gambling business, Fubo Gaming. The gist is that the streaming TV service was being used to directly promote the sports betting side of things, but that was ramping up on a state-by-state basis. And as of September, Fubo Sportsbook was only available in New Jersey, Arizona, and Iowa.

“Following our previously announced strategic review, we have concluded that continuing with Fubo Gaming and Fubo Sportsbook in this challenging macroeconomic environment would impact our ability to reach our longer term profitability goals,” Gandler said. “Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to exit the online sports wagering business effective immediately.”

FuboTV will announce its full third-quarter 2022 earnings on November 4, 2022, where it will give more details on the shut-down of Fubo Gaming.

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