FuboTV CEO David Gandler predicts the U.S. virtual MVPD space could grow to between 40 million and 50 million subscribers in the next five years.
He told CNBC that his company held about 2.6% share of the market two years ago but has grown its share to approximately 6%. By that math, he predicts fuboTV will grow to between 3 million and 5 million subscribers by 2026.
FuboTV ended the most recent quarter with 681,721 subscribers after adding 91,000. The company now expects to have between 910,000and 920,000 subscribers by the end of 2021.
FuboTV is one of the few vMVPDs that regularly report subscribers totals along with Disney’s Hulu + Live TV and Dish Network’s Sling TV. According to Leichtman Research Group, those three providers ended the most recent quarter with approximately 6.82 million combined subscribers, meaning fuboTV accounts for roughly 10% share within that group.
RELATED: FuboTV adds 91,000 subscribers in Q2
Right now, fuboTV’s primary revenue stream comes from subscription fees with a much smaller portion coming in from advertising. The company reported $130.9 million in revenue for the second quarter, up 196% year over year, thanks to steady growth in subscription and advertising revenue per user. However, the company’s operating expenses also grew 90% year over year and led to a loss of approximately $95 million during the second quarter.
FuboTV’s plan to eventually turn a profit will rely in part on its work to integrate sports wagering with its streaming TV product. The company is getting ready to debut its own sportsbook later this year. Gandler told the publication his company could introduce sports wagering to its vMVPD platform in a way similar to what DraftKings has done.
“You start with who will win the game. Then you can say who wins the half, then you can say who wins the quarter? Who wins the drive? And so you can continue to add more and more markets during the game without having to be at zero latency from the first second,” he said. “Again, our goal is about casual gaming, to introduce interactivity, to be able to create a more engaging service. It’s not about allowing people to robo-bet every millisecond.”