FuboTV plans to offer four UEFA Nations League soccer matches to a wider audience, with an eye on additional revenue streams. In addition to streaming on the virtual MVPD service, select games will also be available via pay-per-view through distribution partners, FuboTV announced Thursday.
It’s the first time the company is expanding distribution to PPV, FuboTV co-founder and CEO David Gandler said in a statement, as it works to achieve profitability within the next few years.
“Soccer is about to heat up with UEFA Nations League, and we’re thrilled to bring select exclusive matches not only to FuboTV customers but to a broader audience through our PPV distribution partners,” Gandler stated. “This marks the first time FuboTV has expanded distribution to customers of PPV, diversifying our revenue streams as we target profitability by 2025. Whether they watch on FuboTV, our broadly-distributed Fubo Sports Network or PPV, soccer fans won’t miss a minute of the action.”
FuboTV’s exclusive English-language streams of four Union of European Football Associations Nations League matches on pay-per-view all feature England and will be available to DirecTV and Dish customers, as well as all major cable companies through iN Demand. Sports bars and pubs can also order matches to livestream.
Each PPV match is available for $24.95.
Matches on the docket for PPV all take place in June and include:
June 4: Noon ET - Hungary vs. England
June 7: 2:30 pm ET - Germany vs. England
June 11: 2:30 pm ET - England vs. Italy
June 14: 2:30 pm ET - England vs. Hungary
Earlier this year FuboTV secured exclusive U.S. rights in all languages, except Spanish and Portuguese, to stream select UEFA matches under a six-year deal with Fox Sports. It’s also streaming the European Qualifiers to UEFA Euro 2024 and 2028, European Qualifiers to FIFA World Cup 2026, Friendly Matches played by European nations controlled by UEFA, five matches for UEFA Euro2024 and five matches for UEFA Euro2028.
The exclusive coverage of UEFA Nations League streams live on Fubo Sports Network which is part of the vMVPD’s base plan. Select matches will stream live on Fubo Sports through distribution partners including Hisense Smart TVs, LG Channels, Sports on Tubi, Plex, Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel, Vizio Channels and Xumo.
When it comes to live streaming content, sports tops the leaderboard in U.S. households, according to Parks Associates. The firm found that of the 43% of homes that streamed live content online in the three months prior, 61% had watched a live sporting event.
“Right now, sports content is key to drawing and keeping an engaged livestream viewer base. Even with content that benefits from live consumption – such as news and concerts – significantly fewer consumers are livestreaming this content compared to sports,” Paul Erickson, director of research at Parks Associates stated. “The sports audience is significantly more engaged in livestreaming as a whole."
The move to add PPV to viewing options comes as FuboTV looks to beef up financials and become profitable. In the first quarter the company recorded a net loss of around $141 million on revenue of $242 million. It ended the quarter with $456 million of cash. Giving full-year 2022 guidance in December, the live TV streaming service forecast over $1 billion in revenue this year.
The company is targeting positive cash flow and adjusted EBITDA in 2025.
“We have sharpened our focus on strategies to achieve profitability as we continue to scale and there are still 72.5 million households who have yet to cut the cord and we expect to continue to benefit from the shift from cable and satellite to Internet-delivered TV bundles,” Gandler said during FuboTV’s first quarter earnings call.
That focus centers on five key areas, he continued, including efficient growth, content costs, advertising, tech costs and the fubo Sportsbook to reach the 2025 cash flow goal.
“We believe our focus on these initiatives strike an appropriate balance of building growth while driving the operating leverage inherent in our model,” Gandler continued.
This week FuboTV made additions to its executive leadership, including Ben Grad in the new role of SVP, head of strategic partnerships and operations and Todd Mathers, SVP of content and strategy acquisition.
Mathers reports to Chief Business Officer Henry Ahn, who transitioned from his spot on FuboTV’s board of directors to the newly created business chief role in early April.