fuboTV acquires Balto Sports as first step into online sports wagering market
NEW YORK: fuboTV Inc. has acquired Balto Sports, marking the company’s first move into the online sports wagering market, a news release said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Balto Sports is a Y Combinator company that develops tools for users to organize and play fantasy sports games. fuboTV intends to leverage its own proprietary technology along with Balto’s contest automation software to launch a free to play gaming offering.
In connection with the deal, Balto’s team will join fuboTV and will be instrumental in driving the company’s expansion into both free to play gaming and online sports wagering. The online sports wagering market is expected to reach $155 billion by 2024 according to Zion Market Research.
David Gandler, co-founder and CEO, fuboTV, commented, “As we said in our third quarter earnings announcement last month, fuboTV sees the online wagering space as complementary to our sports-first live TV streaming platform.
“We believe there are significant synergies between consumers who enjoy wagering and our subscribers who enjoy streaming live sports, creating a flywheel opportunity. As we’ve previously expressed, one of our goals with wagering is to expand our total available market (TAM) by developing another important revenue stream for fuboTV, as we are doing with our growing ad sales business.
“The acquisition of Balto Sports will enable us to build a first class, free to play experience that brings consumers the best games around live sports. From there, we see a natural progression to layer on real money wagering in regulated markets complementing fuboTV’s live streaming video for a highly engaging user experience within our platform.
“We will be strategic in our approach to wagering as we consider and evaluate different opportunities and will adjust our plans accordingly. We’re excited to launch sports wagering, integrate it into our core offerings and deliver what we believe will be a truly groundbreaking live TV streaming platform to consumers.”
fuboTV (NYSE: FUBO) is the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform offering subscribers access to tens of thousands of live sporting events annually as well as leading news and entertainment content. fuboTV’s base package, fubo Standard, features a broad mix of 100+ channels, including 43 of the top 50 Nielsen-ranked networks across sports, news and entertainment (Primetime A18-49).
Continually innovating to give subscribers a premium viewing experience they can’t find with cable TV, fuboTV is regularly first-to-market with new product features and was the first virtual MVPD to stream in 4K.
fuboTV merged with FaceBank Group in April 2020 to create a leading digital entertainment company, combining fuboTV’s direct-to-consumer live TV streaming platform for cord-cutters with FaceBank’s technology-driven IP in sports, movies and live performances.
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