Who Owns FuboTV?

FuboTV is a New York-based streaming television service. The company was founded in Jan 2015 by David Gandler, Alberto Horihuela, and Sung Ho Choi. FuboTV initially offered livestreams from soccer-centric channels for $7/month.

In 2017, the company expanded its streaming service. As of Feb 2023, FuboTV was the only live TV streaming platform with all Nielsen-rated sports channels. It aggregates over 300 live sports, news, and entertainment networks. [1]

FuboTV is a leading streaming service that aggregates sports, news, and entertainment content in a single app. The platform operates in the US, Canada, and Spain. In Mar 2024, FuboTV had 1.618 million paid subscribers in North America and 406,000 paying customers outside North America. Fubo’s average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 15% in 2023 to $86.65. [2]

FuboTV markets itself as a sports-first cable TV replacement product. However, the platform also streams live entertainment and news programming which features over 40,000 TV shows and movies on-demand monthly.

In Mar 2024, the company signed a new carriage agreement with Mid-Atlantic Sports Network to expand streaming coverage of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals on FuboTV. The deal solidifies Fubo’s position as the home for local sports, offering over 55,000 live sporting events annually. [3]

FuboTV’s proprietary data and technology platform is optimized for live TV and sports viewership. This tech stack allows subscribers to engage with real-time content through an intuitive and personalized streaming experience.

In Jan 2024, the company launched Instant Headlines to help FuboTV viewers make better viewing decisions in real-time. The new AI-powered feature generates contextual news topics as they are reported live on air. But who owns FuboTV? [4]

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Who is FuboTV’s Parent Company?

FuboTV is owned and operated by FuboTV Inc., a public company based in New York, NY. The parent organization was founded in Mar 2020 after the fuboTV-FaceBank Group merger. Anyone can purchase fuboTV shares on the NYSE to own a stake in the company.

FuboTV relies on its parent company’s top management for business guidance. The team is committed to delivering value to the brand’s shareholders, including investors, institutional owners, and individuals who acquired shares on the stock exchange.

In Mar 2024, the parent company appointed Neil Glat to its board of directors to replace Pär-Jörgen Pärson. Glat has years of experience in sports, entertainment, media, and hospitality. [5]

FuboTV Inc. owns its flagship fuboTV platform and Molotov, the French live TV streaming service. The parent company appointed Dina Roman in 2023 as Senior VP – global advertising sales to boost its ad revenue.

In Q3 2023, fuboTV posted double-digit North American ad sales growth, up 34% year-over-year. The exemplary performance was fueled by a strategic shift toward direct IO and programmatic guaranteed (PG) deals, spearheaded by its new VP, Dina Roman. [6]

FuboTV is not yet profitable. However, the company has adopted tried-and-tested strategies to expand gross margins and push toward profitability by 2025. In 2023, fuboTV posted a 28% year-over-year increase in revenue growth and a 9% surge in global subscribers.

These trends can help the company achieve profitability by 2025. Wall Street analysts like Wedbush and Laura Martin from Needham have maintained their Buy rating on fuboTV at $3-$5 price targets. [7]

Image Credit: Erik Mclean

FuboTV’s Ownership History

David Gandler, Alberto Horihuela, and Sung Ho Choi launched fuboTV in Jan 2015 as a soccer streaming service. The three co-founders are fuboTV’s original owners. In 2017, they pivoted to an all-sports service before adopting a virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) model.

The co-founders launched FuboTV in the US before expanding to Canada and Spain. The company added Discovery and Viacom Networks to its platform in 2019 and partnered with FanDuel to integrate sports betting data.

In Mar 2020, FaceBank Group acquired FuboTV in a planned merger deal. FaceBank was founded by John Textor, who quit after FaceBank and FuboTV merged to become a venture capital investor. In Feb 2024, Textor partnered with Tsangs Group to invest globally in entertainment, sports, and media. [8]

After the FaceBank-fuboTV merger, FuboTV was renamed FuboTV Media and FaceBank Group became FuboTV Inc. Original FuboTV CEO David Gandler was appointed the new CEO of FuboTV Inc.

In Oct 2020, FuboTV completed its initial public offering as an NYSE company. The IPO transferred FuboTV ownership to institutions and individual investors. However, the company stagnated due to stiff competition. As of Oct 2023, FuboTV’s stock was down nearly 100% from its all-time high set shortly after its 2020 IPO. [9]

FuboTV used its IPO funds to expand its offering. The company acquired Balto Sports in Dec 2020 and sports gaming firm Vigtory in 2021 to enter the online sports wagering market. Then, FuboTV leveraged both acquisitions to launch Fubo Gaming and Fubo Sportsbook on its TV streaming platform.

However, the sports betting apps failed to attract users. In Oct 2022, FuboTV closed Fubo Gaming and Fubo Sportsbook. [10]

FuboTV made several changes in 2023 to achieve profitability, including raising their base subscription package to $74.99/month and introducing a regional sports network fee. In Feb 2024, FuboTV sued ESPN, Fox, Hulu, and Warner Bros. Discovery after they announced a joint sports-streaming venture.

The antitrust lawsuit alleges that fuboTV has been prevented from offering a sports-only streaming service because of the four competitors. [11]

Image Credit: Tim Hart

FuboTV Shareholder Structure

FuboTV is a wholly-owned brand of fuboTV Inc. Its parent organization is a public company listed on the NYSE. As of Dec 2023, fuboTV Inc. offered 299,502,862 Stock A shares with one vote. This figure includes 290,333,187 free-float shares. [12]

Companies issue and repurchase their shares to address liquidity issues, improve stock value, or reduce volatility. FuboTV incurred a non-cash impairment charge of $35.50 million from intangible and long-lived assets lost after closing Fubo Gaming and Fubo Sportsbook.

In Sep 2022, the company issued 31% more shares to raise capital to recoup its losses from the closures. [13]

FuboTV’s shareholder structure includes institutions, insiders, and individual investors. In Q4 2022, BlackRock bought 1.1 million FUBO shares. This purchase increased the firm’s stake to 7.5% or 14.57 million shares.

BlackRock acquired more shares to reach 8.0% as of Dec 2023, becoming fuboTV’s largest shareholder. Vanguard Group comes in second with 7.6%, followed by State Street Corp at 2.2%. Other top players include DE Shaw & Co., Geode Capital, Millennium Management, Luminari Capital, Citadel Securities, Marshall Wace, and Morgan Stanley. [14]

Institutions own 38% of fuboTV, including 34% held by the company’s top 25 investors. As of Dec 2023, the general public held a 60% stake in FuboTV. This group includes individual investors. The 60% stake implies that the general public can influence fuboTV’s management and governance-related decisions. [15]

FuboTV’s insiders own less than 2% of the company. CEO David Gandler is the top insider shareholder, with 0.9%. In Mar 2024, the Compensation Committee of fuboTV’s Board of Directors awarded 39,291 shares of its common stock to seven new employees to induce them to join Fubo. The recipients are now part of fuboTV’s shareholder structure. [16]

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