Disney merges Hulu + Live and Fubo. What it means to you.

On By Littum

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Entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. and the streaming provider FuboTV agreed upon on Monday to merge their online live TV businesses.

The deal would combine Hulu + Live and sports-heavy FuboTV and would clear the way for the launch of Venu Sports, a streaming venture from Disney’s ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox.

Venu Sports was originally supposed to launch this fall, but was delayed by an antitrust lawsuit filed by Fubo. In August, a judge granted a preliminary injunction to block the new sports streaming service, saying it could “destroy competition and raise prices for consumers.” Court hearings in the case were to begin on Monday.

Disney, Fox and Warner agreed to pay $220 million to Fubo to settle the legal dispute. Disney also said it would provide a $145 million loan to Fubo in 2026.

If the deal passes regulatory scrutiny, what would the pairing of Hulu + Live and FuboTV mean for sports fans? More choices and more complexity.

What Hulu + Live and FuboTV deal would mean for sports fans

The combined entity, which would be 70% owned by Disney, does not yet have a name. It would have more than 6 million subscribers, making it the second largest all-digital TV service after YouTube TV.

On the one hand, the deal would give sports fans more opportunities to watch live sports.

As part of the deal, Fubo would be able to create a new sports and broadcast service with multiple Disney networks as well as its ESPN+ streaming service. Consumers will still be able to subscribe to Hulu + Live TV and Fubo separately.

ESPN also plans to launch a standalone ESPN streaming service Flagship later this year.

What about ESPN and Venu Sports?

Venu Sports said in August that its service would cost $43 a month and offer some of the most-watched live sports on TV, including the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and college teams — significantly cheaper than a traditional cable bundle, which can cost $100 a month or more. Sports fans would be able to bundle Venu Sports with other services such as Disney+, Hulu or Max.

What’s coming? More choices and complexity

With the Hulu + Live and Fubo tie-up, sports fans would have more choices, but would still have to navigate a highly fragmented marketplace due to the high competition for sports rights.

Sports dominate the most-watched programs on television, so all players in the traditional and digital television space compete for the rights to broadcast games from the NFL and other leagues to increase viewership. That means games are scattered across broadcast, cable and the Internet, creating a confusing jumble for sports fans.

“Are consumers lacking options? No. But what consumers really want is not in the market and never will. They want one service to go and get every piece of sports content they could ever get. It’s not going to happen,” said Dan Rayburnan industry analyst for streaming media.

Should you pay more to stream live sports?

The Hulu + Live and Fubo deal could provide more opportunities to put together a TV series, but the cost of watching live sports continues to rise. Would this deal make things better or worse?

Rayburn said that is not yet clear. The bottom line: Higher subscription costs and frequent price increases have become an unfortunate fact of streaming life that tests consumer loyalty.

Whether the deal goes through or not, consumers are unlikely to get a respite from the ever-increasing monthly subscription fees that can add up to hundreds of dollars.

“Every streaming service has raised prices multiple times since their services launched, whether it’s on demand or live, and that will continue,” Rayburn said.

Mike Proulx, director of research at Forrester, said consumers should prepare for higher costs “as they cut their TV shows.”

What’s more, Proulx expects more offerings in 2025 “as TV’s distribution model shifts to being primarily online.”