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Disney: How the Fubo Sports Deal Became a Game ChangerfuboTV NYSE: FUBO reported third-quarter fiscal 2026 results reflecting its second full quarter as a combined company with Hulu + Live TV, with management highlighting subscriber gains tied to major live sports, early advertising monetization improvements and a higher full-year adjusted EBITDA outlook.
North America revenue was $1.474 billion, compared with $1.074 billion a year earlier. On a pro forma basis, which assumes the Hulu + Live TV combination had been completed at the start of the comparable period, revenue was approximately flat from $1.475 billion in the prior-year quarter. The company ended the quarter with 5.75 million North American subscribers, up 2% from 5.63 million a year earlier. Rest-of-world subscribers rose 2% to 356,000, while rest-of-world revenue declined to $7.8 million from pro forma revenue of $8.6 million.
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Disney 2025 Shareholders: Major Updates for InvestorsThe company posted a net loss of $25.7 million, narrowing from a $38 million loss in the prior-year period. Loss per share was $0.25. Adjusted EBITDA was $19.1 million, compared with pro forma adjusted EBITDA of $31 million a year earlier.
World Cup and Sports Programming Drive Subscriber Activity Chief Executive Officer Alisa Bowen, who was hosting her first earnings call as fuboTV’s CEO, said major live events supported subscriber performance during the quarter. She cited engagement around the NBA Finals and the 2026 World Cup, which concluded roughly two and a half weeks before the call.
Disney: Forging a 3-Headed Sports Streaming Giant With Fubo DealBowen said fuboTV carried World Cup programming in English through Fox and in Spanish through Telemundo and Universo after renewing its NBCUniversal partnership for the Fubo service. The event supported total subscriber growth, with particular strength in enhanced Spanish-language offerings and Fubo-branded services, she said.
Chief Financial Officer John Janedis said the availability of World Cup programming had a favorable subscriber impact, though the company does not disclose performance for individual services. He contrasted a pro forma sequential subscriber decline of about 250,000 in the third quarter of 2025 with a sequential gain of 25,000 subscribers in the latest quarter.
Management said it expects some attrition following the tournament but views the event as a means of attracting higher-quality subscribers to Fubo. Bowen also said referrals from ESPN’s “Where to Watch” feature have converted from free trials to paid subscriptions at a higher rate than customers acquired through other channels, while showing favorable early retention trends.
Advertising Integration Shows Early Gains fuboTV said its migration of advertising inventory to the Disney Ad Server has produced double-digit year-over-year gains in CPMs and fill rates on the Fubo platform. Bowen said the technical elements of the advertising integration were completed in June and that fuboTV participated in Disney’s advertising upfront process for the first time this year.
Janedis said June was the Fubo business’s strongest month of advertising growth in at least several years. He added that CPMs rose year over year across news, sports and entertainment during the month, despite management’s prior discussion of softness in entertainment advertising.
Bowen said Disney’s audience-first sales approach enables advertisers to purchase the reach of the broader Disney portfolio while using audience-based targeting. She said Fubo’s sports viewing data and fan audiences can contribute to Disney’s Audience Graph, potentially improving monetization as advertisers pursue sports audiences across platforms.
Management said the advertising integration is tracking ahead of plan. Janedis said the company achieved CPM gains sooner than initially expected and identified advertising as a potential driver not only in the fourth quarter but also over subsequent quarters.
Strategy Focuses on Product Segmentation and Disney Collaboration Bowen said the company intends to retain Fubo and Hulu + Live TV as distinct products rather than combine them into one service. She said the brands appeal to different customer groups: Fubo maintains a sports-focused identity across news, sports and entertainment, while Hulu + Live TV has a broader entertainment proposition supported by Disney’s streaming bundles.
The company’s strategy is taking shape around four areas:
Optimizing pricing and package segmentation; Expanding the content portfolio with programming partners; Developing distribution and marketing partnerships; and Investing in technology, innovation and artificial intelligence. Bowen said fuboTV will provide additional detail on its strategic roadmap during its November earnings call. She said artificial intelligence is being used for search, content discovery, personalization, engineering workflows and marketing optimization. The company expects to introduce an AI-driven voice-search and discovery feature in time for football season.
Fubo also launched its Multiview feature on LG devices during the quarter. Bowen said the company plans to continue investing in user-interface innovation, while Disney is expected to bring Hulu + Live TV integration to the Disney+ application by the end of the calendar year.
Outlook Raised as Company Cites Balance Sheet Flexibility fuboTV ended the quarter with $236.4 million in cash equivalents and restricted cash and expects to finish the year with more than $200 million of cash. Janedis said the company’s cash balance exceeds the outstanding face value of its 2029 convertible notes, giving management “a lot of optionality.”
The company raised its fiscal 2026 pro forma adjusted EBITDA outlook to a range of $90 million to $100 million. It continues to target at least $300 million of adjusted EBITDA in fiscal 2028 and positive free cash flow in fiscal 2027 and 2028 under its current operating plan.
Janedis said fuboTV will continue investing in programming, marketing, technology and product development. He also said the combined company has identified savings opportunities in vendor contracts and has already completed a handful of renewals at substantially improved rates. Programming-contract benefits are expected to emerge over a medium- to longer-term period as multiyear agreements come up for renewal.
Bowen also announced that co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Alberto Horihuela will transition toward the end of the year into a senior adviser role. He will remain with the company as Founder Advisor through 2027.
About fuboTV (NYSE:FUBO)fuboTV Inc is a sports-focused live TV streaming platform that provides subscribers with access to a broad range of televised sports, news and entertainment programming. The service offers tiered channel packages featuring major networks such as ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC and regional sports networks, along with bundled options for premium channels and international programming. A core element of fuboTV's proposition is its cloud DVR functionality, which enables users to record live events and store them for later viewing.
In addition to its live television offerings, fuboTV has developed an in-house ad-supported streaming network—fubo Sports Network—that delivers original sports news, analysis and highlights.
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