Disney Closes Acquisition Of Fubo, Creating Bulked-Up Rival To YouTube TV

Disney has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Fubo, which will create the No. 6 pay-TV operator in the U.S. when combined with Hulu + Live TV.

The two services will together have nearly 6 million subscribers in North America. Each will continue to be available as separate services, branded individually. Even so, their new heft makes Disney a larger rival to YouTube TV in the internet-delivered pay-TV space. YouTube TV reported passing 8 million subscribers in early 2024 but more recently has approached 10 million, according to industry sources, due largely to bundles with the NFL Sunday Ticket package.

Disney and YouTube TV are currently locked in a carriage dispute ahead of Thursday night’s expiration of their current contract. The impasse risks a blackout of ABC, ESPN and other channels during the middle of football season and the primetime run of Dancing with the Stars and other marquee programming.

The acquisition stemmed from a settlement of Fubo’s 2024 antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros Discovery over the now-shuttered Venu Sports joint venture. The sports-focused streaming venture was waylaid before its planned launch last August after a judge ruled the JV partners had engaged in monopoly behavior, squeezing Fubo as programmers as they planned to launch a competitor.

Disney will control 70% of the new streaming organization, with Fubo shareholders retaining the rest. Fubo’s current management team, led by co-founder and CEO David Gandler, will run the merged Fubo and Hulu + Live TV businesses.

In announcing the deal close, Fubo and Disney said the newly created entity will realize savings from more flexible programming packages (which will incur lower carriage fees) as well as ad optimization and sales and marketing efficiencies. The combined company will have access to a $145 million term loan that Disney has committed to provide Fubo.

In the wake of the Venu battle, several players have come to market with more focused packages, offerings once thought impossible in the traditional economics of pay-TV. Venu’s technology survived the demise of the JV and has helped bolster Fox Corp.’s new streaming service Fox One.

“It is a privilege to join Fubo as chairman at such a transformative time for the company,” said Andy Bird, Chairman of the Board of Directors, in a statement. “Today’s announcement brings together two industry leading brands and a compelling set of resources that uniquely position us to meet the evolving needs of today’s consumer.”

Media veteran Edgar Bronfman Jr. had been chairman of Fubo for several years prior to the acquisition.

Fubo was founded in 2015 as a sports-focused pay-TV outlet specializing in soccer.

“Together with Disney, we’re creating a more flexible streaming ecosystem that gives consumers greater choice, while driving profitability and sustainable growth,” Gandler said in a statement.

Fubo shares, which have tripled in value in 2025 to date after word of the planned acquisition in January, shot up another 20% in pre-market trading on news of the close.

Gandler said the company is “proud to reward our retail shareholders who have supported Fubo’s mission from the very beginning. We believe this combination delivers the scale, stability and strategic clarity to create lasting value for consumers and shareholders, and indelibly impact the future of live streaming.”