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FuboTV Gets ESPN and Is Now the Best Service for Sports Fans

Image for article titled FuboTV Gets ESPN and Is Now the Best Service for Sports Fans
Photo: Gizmodo

If you have not recently updated your FuboTV app, you should think about doing that ASAP—particularly if you’re a sports fan.

FuboTV users now have access to a cornucopia of sports and entertainment channels owned by Disney, including ABC, ABC News Live, Freeform, Disney channels, ESPN channels, FX programming, and National Geographic, a spokesperson confirmed to Gizmodo. The companies announced the multi-year deal back in June, noting these channels would be included in the platform’s Standard plan.

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Currently, FuboTV’s Standard plan costs $60 per month and includes 30 hours of Cloud DVR space, more than 100 channels, and screen-sharing for up to two devices. (DVR support for Disney and ESPN channels should be available “within the next week,” the company said over the weekend.)

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FuboTV has long been one of the best streaming options for sports fans, thanks in part to the customizations and add-ons for coverage of the MLB, HNL, NCAA, NBA, and other sports and events. But FuboTV has jumped quite a bit in price the last couple of years—most recently in July—a hike the company attributes to its growing number of local, national, and international channels, the addition of live events in 4K, as well as this most recent addition of Disney properties.

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“Sometimes, to help us bring you new channels and deliver premium features like live sports in 4K, we need to remove other channels and adjust subscription prices,” the company said last month. As part of these adjustments, the company noted that it would be losing support for Turner-owned channels, including TNT, TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and truTV. I would imagine this sucks for a pretty significant demographic of FuboTV users.

But the company said that the trade-off would be now offering “a market-best 43 of the top 50 Nielsen-ranked sports, news and entertainment channels in our base package.” Plus, FuboTV said that user credentials can now be used to log in to Disney and ESPN apps and websites. Local ABC coverage will initially be supported in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno, with support for additional regions arriving later down the line.

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Sports streaming remains a disaster that’s made no easier to navigate by the ever-evolving licensing agreements between distributors and services. It’s a mess! But with the addition of ESPN channels, plus its dozens of other sports-specific channel options, FuboTV looks like your best bet for sports coverage on a single app—for now, at least.