FuboTV CEO slams 'pernicious' rivals Disney, Fox and WBD amid streaming lawsuit

By James Rogers

'We are asking for an opportunity to compete fairly as a business,' CEO David Gandler says

FuboTV Inc. CEO David Gandler has slammed Walt Disney Co., Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. amid the sports-first TV-streaming company's lawsuit against its rivals.

Last month FuboTV (FUBO) filed a lawsuit to block the new sports-streaming joint venture from Disney's DIS ESPN, Fox FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery WBD, which is scheduled to premiere this fall.

Gandler addressed the issue when FuboTV reported its fourth-quarter results before market open Friday. "These results are especially impressive given the years-long challenges Fubo has faced as a result of what we believe have been anticompetitive practices by The Walt Disney Company, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery," he said, in a statement.

"As evident in the antitrust lawsuit we filed against these parties last month, their proposed sports-streaming joint venture is only the latest example of the pernicious practices they have inflicted to suppress our business and harm consumers."

He added: "We are asking for an opportunity to compete fairly as a business, and to offer consumers a streaming option that gives them the channels they want, and at a fair price."

Related: FuboTV sues to block ESPN, Warner, Fox sports-streaming venture

Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have not yet responded to a request for comment on this story. ESPN declined to comment.

FuboTV shares rose in premarket trades, but were down 8.2% midmorning Friday despite the streaming company's narrower-than-expected loss and better-than-expected revenue in its fourth-quarter results.

The company reported a net loss of $71 million, or 24 cents a share, after a net loss of $95.9 million, or 48 cents a share, in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting a loss of 31 cents a share. On an adjusted basis, FuboTV reported a loss of 17 cents a share, beating the FactSet estimate of a loss of 24 cents a share.

Total revenue grew 28% to $410.2 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $398 million. Subscription revenue was $370.1 million, up from $284.9 million in the prior year's quarter, and advertising revenue increased to $39 million from $33.9 million in the same period last year. The company also grew North American average revenue per user by 15% year over year to an all-time high of $86.65.

Related: FuboTV's stock plunges 23% in wake of sports-streaming venture from ESPN, Fox, WBD

"Our strong results in North America included 12% year-over-year growth in subscribers, 29% year-over-year revenue growth and a record $86.65 average revenue per user (ARPU)," Gandler said in the statement. "The quarter also marked a healthy year-over-year improvement in profitability and cash usage, reflecting the success of our continuing initiatives focused on adding efficiency across our operations. We remain confident in achieving our 2025 positive cash flow goal."

Free cash flow was negative $5.85 million, but that marked an improvement from negative $20.56 million in the prior year's quarter.

For 2024, FuboTV is forecasting 2.055 million to 2.095 million total paid subscribers and $1.536 billion to $1.56 billion total revenue. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for 2.119 million subscribers and revenue of $1.624 billion.

FuboTV shares have fallen 42.9% in the last three months, compared with the S&P 500 index's gain of 11.2%.

-James Rogers

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03-01-24 1028ET

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