ESPN Acquires The Red Zone

[River Dog]

Boy, the television landscape is changing fast:

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/breaking-n ... 00167.html

I love The Red Zone and have subscribed to it for the past 5 years or so, the last several via FuboTV. My wife thinks I'm nuts, but I'll have the live broadcast of a network-telecast game on, which always includes the Hawks, then multitask by having the Red Zone on simultaneously.

I'm sure glad that I'm not under a long-term contract with my TV provider as if Fubo loses the rights to The Red Zone, I might have to change providers again.

[Stream Hawk]

Won’t take effect until at least next season, though. What do you think of Fubo? We recently kind of cut the cord with Xfinity. Found a new free way to stream M’s games. Also have Sling for some upcoming football but who knows if it’s enough. I can’t miss any Hawks games so may explore more options;)

[River Dog]

Won’t take effect until at least next season, though. What do you think of Fubo? We recently kind of cut the cord with Xfinity. Found a new free way to stream M’s games. Also have Sling for some upcoming football but who knows if it’s enough. I can’t miss any Hawks games so may explore more options;)

I hadn't heard when it takes effect, but it makes sense that it won't until at least next year. It remains to be seen how ESPN will distribute it, if they insist on keeping it exclusive to their network or if they'll ferret it out to other providers. I hope the latter is the case.

We really like Fubo. I'm sharing my subscription with my brother and daughter as I can stream with 10 different devices. The package we subscribe to includes Root Sports, which carries nearly all of the Mariners games. I can vary my subscription level monthly so I can pay the higher price for the Red Zone for just 4 months.

My only complaint is the fast forward/rewind feature. I like to record MNF, SNF, and TNF and start watching it about an hour after kickoff then fast forward through the commercials and halftime, but their fast forwarding can be pretty slow and cumbersome. I like Prime Video's FF/Rew feature a lot better.

If you're outside of the Northwest market, the only way you're going to be able to see all of the Hawks games live is to subscribe to YouTube TV's Sunday Ticket.

[Stream Hawk]

Thanks. I have a few friends that have Fubo and also seem to dig it. We are in Bellingham so I think still safe there.

[Aseahawkfan]

I read Disney acquired the NFL network and Red zone. They want to move heavily into streaming sports. Not sure I love Disney being the company taking over streaming sports given their track record for doing a crappy job with great media properties. But I guess they made the biggest bid.

[River Dog]

I read Disney acquired the NFL network and Red zone. They want to move heavily into streaming sports. Not sure I love Disney being the company taking over streaming sports given their track record for doing a crappy job with great media properties. But I guess they made the biggest bid.

It's not a done deal. It still has to be approved by the Justice Department and the SEC.

Disney has also come to an agreement to acquire Fubo TV. They already own Hulu and of course ESPN+. There is a real danger that they are edging close to monopolizing the sports media market, so it wouldn't surprise me if the deal doesn't go through.

https://deadline.com/2025/07/fubo-disne ... 236472062/

[NorthHawk]

The just have to bribe the guy at the top.

[Aseahawkfan]

It's not a done deal. It still has to be approved by the Justice Department and the SEC.

Disney has also come to an agreement to acquire Fubo TV. They already own Hulu and of course ESPN+. There is a real danger that they are edging close to monopolizing the sports media market, so it wouldn't surprise me if the deal doesn't go through.

https://deadline.com/2025/07/fubo-disne ... 236472062/

I've been looking at FUBO stock. I've seen these types of mergers before. It's a gamble. It will either be really great or bankrupt if the merger deal falls through. If Disney uses FUBO to dominate the streaming sports market pushing a bunch of streaming sports under the FUBO umbrella, the stock is going to explode. Disney will own 70 percent of it so make money off the investment gains. If they made this merger deal to buy themselves time while they position to break the deal and ruin FUBO, the stock will implode and go bankrupt. It's really cheap right now. It's a hard call to know exactly what Disney is planning with FUBO and if the government will approve. Not sure how many companies are competing for streaming sports.

[River Dog]

It's not a done deal. It still has to be approved by the Justice Department and the SEC.

Disney has also come to an agreement to acquire Fubo TV. They already own Hulu and of course ESPN+. There is a real danger that they are edging close to monopolizing the sports media market, so it wouldn't surprise me if the deal doesn't go through.

https://deadline.com/2025/07/fubo-disne ... 236472062/

I've been looking at FUBO stock. I've seen these types of mergers before. It's a gamble. It will either be really great or bankrupt if the merger deal falls through. If Disney uses FUBO to dominate the streaming sports market pushing a bunch of streaming sports under the FUBO umbrella, the stock is going to explode. Disney will own 70 percent of it so make money off the investment gains. If they made this merger deal to buy themselves time while they position to break the deal and ruin FUBO, the stock will implode and go bankrupt. It's really cheap right now. It's a hard call to know exactly what Disney is planning with FUBO and if the government will approve. Not sure how many companies are competing for streaming sports.

There seems to be a number of streaming services that are in the NFL market. Just off the top of my head, in addition to Fubo, there's Netflix, YouTube TV, Sling, DirectTV Stream, Paramount, Peacock, NFL+, ESPN+, and Amazon Prime that live streams at least some NFL games. But if Disney adds Fubo to their lineup, they'll own Fubo and Hulu along with both ESPN and ABC.

My guess is that with the big players already in the business, ie Amazon and Google (YouTube), along with the other networks, it would be a little difficult to call out Disney as being a monopoly. But who knows.

I'm a big believer in the free market keeping prices low and quality high. I'm paying less now for my sports than I ever have in the past. And its higher quality as I don't have equipment to deal with, 1000 hours of cloud storage, share it with others, etc.

[Aseahawkfan]

There seems to be a number of streaming services that are in the NFL market. Just off the top of my head, in addition to Fubo, there's Netflix, YouTube TV, Sling, DirectTV Stream, Paramount, Peacock, NFL+, ESPN+, and Amazon Prime that live streams at least some NFL games. But if Disney adds Fubo to their lineup, they'll own Fubo and Hulu along with both ESPN and ABC.

My guess is that with the big players already in the business, ie Amazon and Google (YouTube), along with the other networks, it would be a little difficult to call out Disney as being a monopoly. But who knows.

I'm a big believer in the free market keeping prices low and quality high. I'm paying less now for my sports than I ever have in the past. And its higher quality as I don't have equipment to deal with, 1000 hours of cloud storage, share it with others, etc.

Free market is great when viable consumer choice exists. I can't imagine Disney can dominate streaming sports if they don't own any of the sports leagues. They'll still have to bid for broadcast rights, though the NFL owning part of ESPN and Disney having control of the NFL network may influence the NFL's decisions. That would be a problem.

[River Dog]

There seems to be a number of streaming services that are in the NFL market. Just off the top of my head, in addition to Fubo, there's Netflix, YouTube TV, Sling, DirectTV Stream, Paramount, Peacock, NFL+, ESPN+, and Amazon Prime that live streams at least some NFL games. But if Disney adds Fubo to their lineup, they'll own Fubo and Hulu along with both ESPN and ABC.

My guess is that with the big players already in the business, ie Amazon and Google (YouTube), along with the other networks, it would be a little difficult to call out Disney as being a monopoly. But who knows.

I'm a big believer in the free market keeping prices low and quality high. I'm paying less now for my sports than I ever have in the past. And its higher quality as I don't have equipment to deal with, 1000 hours of cloud storage, share it with others, etc.

Free market is great when viable consumer choice exists. I can't imagine Disney can dominate streaming sports if they don't own any of the sports leagues. They'll still have to bid for broadcast rights, though the NFL owning part of ESPN and Disney having control of the NFL network may influence the NFL's decisions. That would be a problem.

Agreed. As a rule, I don't like the government interfering with business and that they should keep their regulatory activities to a minimum, but in the case of a true monopoly, I'll make an exception.

[Aseahawkfan]

Agreed. As a rule, I don't like the government interfering with business and that they should keep their regulatory activities to a minimum, but in the case of a true monopoly, I'll make an exception.

There are certain services I do not consider well suited for capitalism because you don't want competition for some other reason like police or military or political office. And I've been leaning towards a more European style medical system for a while now.

If it doesn't have the traits to be good for capitalism, then I'm ok with a different resource management system being used. As far as history goes, every society that has grown larger than a tribe has been socio-capitalist. Socialism is the idea of community. Capitalism is the business or mercantilism part of society. If something works better when provided equally to a community like police services, then I prefer socialist delivery. Equality in police services is more important than cost savings or the conflict of interest of corporate ownership.

I apply that criteria to businesses. Most are fine with a capitalist resource management system and capitalism as a base is far better for driving growth through new business creation. Capitalism can turn a nerf ball into a viable living and business for someone that no other resource management system can do, or straws or hangers or Slurpee's or NFL football. We have all these things because someone was looking to make money doing something they loved. I love the capitalist business creation system that encourages risk taking that leads to new, strange businesses that somehow find a group of consumers willing to pay to make the business viable.

[River Dog]

Agreed. As a rule, I don't like the government interfering with business and that they should keep their regulatory activities to a minimum, but in the case of a true monopoly, I'll make an exception.

There are certain services I do not consider well suited for capitalism because you don't want competition for some other reason like police or military or political office. And I've been leaning towards a more European style medical system for a while now.

If it doesn't have the traits to be good for capitalism, then I'm ok with a different resource management system being used. As far as history goes, every society that has grown larger than a tribe has been socio-capitalist. Socialism is the idea of community. Capitalism is the business or mercantilism part of society. If something works better when provided equally to a community like police services, then I prefer socialist delivery. Equality in police services is more important than cost savings or the conflict of interest of corporate ownership.

I apply that criteria to businesses. Most are fine with a capitalist resource management system and capitalism as a base is far better for driving growth through new business creation. Capitalism can turn a nerf ball into a viable living and business for someone that no other resource management system can do, or straws or hangers or Slurpee's or NFL football. We have all these things because someone was looking to make money doing something they loved. I love the capitalist business creation system that encourages risk taking that leads to new, strange businesses that somehow find a group of consumers willing to pay to make the business viable.

I don't want to turn this into an OT discussion, but I agree that some occupations, like police, firefighters, and other emergency services should not be trusted with the private sector (although there was a time that private businesses operated ambulances). Nor should their employees be allowed to strike. Other non essential and redundant government services, like USPS, should be abolished and contracted out to private companies.

As far as health care goes, I'm 50/50 on the European style system. I do think that there are some routine things, like X-rays, MRI's, commonly accepted drugs, etc, that could fall under such a system. But I do not want to see the profit motive removed from new drugs and methods as there will be no funding to finance research and development departments. It will all be focused on production of existing medicine and practices. There's also a question of taxation. We can't even fund existing social programs, like SS, Medicare, and Medicaid. Plus, you make such a system subject to erratic and unpredictable politicians, like our current POTUS. Not sure if I want Elon Musk going through our health care system and deciding what services he's going to pay for and which ones he's going to cut.

But back to OP. We'll see how Disney plans on managing the Red Zone. It's currently commercial free, but if they start trickling ads into the broadcast, I'm out. One of the things I like about the Red Zone is that it's on continuously so when a televised game goes to break, the Red Zone is always on.

[Aseahawkfan]

I don't want to turn this into an OT discussion, but I agree that some occupations, like police, firefighters, and other emergency services should not be trusted with the private sector (although there was a time that private businesses operated ambulances). Nor should their employees be allowed to strike. Other non essential and redundant government services, like USPS, should be abolished and contracted out to private companies.

As far as health care goes, I'm 50/50 on the European style system. I do think that there are some routine things, like X-rays, MRI's, commonly accepted drugs, etc, that could fall under such a system. But I do not want to see the profit motive removed from new drugs and methods as there will be no funding to finance research and development departments. It will all be focused on production of existing medicine and practices. There's also a question of taxation. We can't even fund existing social programs, like SS, Medicare, and Medicaid. Plus, you make such a system subject to erratic and unpredictable politicians, like our current POTUS. Not sure if I want Elon Musk going through our health care system and deciding what services he's going to pay for and which ones he's going to cut.

But back to OP. We'll see how Disney plans on managing the Red Zone. It's currently commercial free, but if they start trickling ads into the broadcast, I'm out. One of the things I like about the Red Zone is that it's on continuously so when a televised game goes to break, the Red Zone is always on.

One of the answers I always thought was a good retort I could not easily dismiss is the U.S. military is a nationalized, but the defense industry is a profitable, robust industry constantly innovating. As far as drug discovery goes, many European countries with more citizen friendly systems have incredible drug discovery.

I know a lot of Americans don't realize it, but a lot of drug companies are foreign based. Novo Nordisk, Roche, AstraZaneca, Bayer, and numerous companies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_biomedical_companies_by_revenue

A lot of foreign systems blend public and private options to strengthen the overal system.

I just know we need better here and cheaper. And I'll top there so we don't go too far off topic.

We'll see if this FUBO merger occurs. I might take a small position in the stock as its a big gamble and these big corps can play real dirty with smaller companies stringing them along until they can bankrupt them.

[River Dog]

One of the answers I always thought was a good retort I could not easily dismiss is the U.S. military is a nationalized, but the defense industry is a profitable, robust industry constantly innovating. As far as drug discovery goes, many European countries with more citizen friendly systems have incredible drug discovery.

I know a lot of Americans don't realize it, but a lot of drug companies are foreign based. Novo Nordisk, Roche, AstraZaneca, Bayer, and numerous companies.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_biomedical_companies_by_revenue

Oh, I realize it. 60% of our drugs come from European manufacturers. But where they're made isn't as important as where they are sold:

For many medications sold in the United States, particularly those that are still under patent protection, profit margins are already generous. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, brand-name drugs are marked up 322% in the U.S. compared to other countries. The average markup across both brand name and generic medications is 278%.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... r-AA1JYy5Q

Without the US market to sell their products, European manufacturers, like domestic companies, won't have the financial motivation to finance R&D. They'll make only drugs that are off the shelf and already approved.

[trents]

I've considered cutting the cable and going with something like FUBO as I watch very little TV besides sports and news. The problem is, my wife is not a sports fan at all and watches mostly programs that are standard cable TV offerings. So, to get the variety of programing that would satisfy us both, we would likely need to subscribe to a number of streaming services. The other issue is that it seems to me the economics of cable cutting are not as favorable as they once were. As more and more people have cut the cable and gone to streaming services, streaming service prices have increased significantly in response to the demand. As of now, xfinity cable TV still seems to be the best route for our household. It gives both of us most of the programming we want and when bundled with Internet and digital TV is probably more cost efficient than trying to cover all the bases with streaming.

[Aseahawkfan]

Oh, I realize it. 60% of our drugs come from European manufacturers. But where they're made isn't as important as where they are sold:

For many medications sold in the United States, particularly those that are still under patent protection, profit margins are already generous. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, brand-name drugs are marked up 322% in the U.S. compared to other countries. The average markup across both brand name and generic medications is 278%.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... r-AA1JYy5Q

Without the US market to sell their products, European manufacturers, like domestic companies, won't have the financial motivation to finance R&D. They'll make only drugs that are off the shelf and already approved.

This is just not true. Drug and medical development would always exist because regardless of income level, people get sick. Medicine is like the police: you never want to use it, but it's good it's there.

I invest in a lot of companies. I would not at all be surprised if they moved to a public option we wouldn't see improved drug discovery focused on solving problems rather than making profits. A lot of the time you have several companies competing for the same markets and using patents to limit other companies from entering a market, when we would all be better off if all the minds were focused on curing the condition rather than profiting it off as much as possible. It's why the pharma lobby blocked access to Americans going to Canada to ensure maximum profits on people taking as many medications as possible and being as sick as possible.

I'm not sure why you think the profit motive is so great for medicine when curing a condition means profits all gone. Capitalism incentivizes maximizing sickness to maximize profits. That's not a great idea at all.

It's like privatizing prisons that make money the more people that are incarcerated. Where is the incentive to reduce crime and improve the overall justice system when large companies are making money off incarceration?

The conflict of interest creates a bad situation. For some reason most Americans can't see the conflict of interest even when most drug and medical delivery starts in public systems like universities, then moves to private systems.

The big advantage of Big Pharma is not drug discovery, but mass production. Drug discovery is actually not that expensive. It's usually a focused, small team of scientists that develop a drug or therapy, then launch tests. It's once approval is accomplished that sales and mass production becomes very expensive.

That's why I think you could design a better system to help with the mass production costs with better price controls in place. I've been investing in these companies for years. It's a long, long process to develop a drug or medical therapy, but it's often done with public money or a joint public and private combination. It's not that expensive to get the design process going. It takes a long, long time due to how rigorous you must be for human use. Once it clears a Phase 3 clinical trial and is ready for sale, that's when the costs ramp big.

It's an interesting process. You can make a lot of money on approvals, though so many drugs fail or don't work as well as expected. Everyone is reaching for the golden ticket in biotech even if their drug is half-ass or unnecessary. It's almost an over-saturated market that could be better focused.

The way our current government is set up Big Pharma lobbies too much to resist change, same as insurers. Though they are taking the big hit with you know who and their stocks are absolutely hammered all thanks to the BBB. Alliteration...a rhetorical technique for selling.

I can't help but get into these topics sometimes. So much going on in Biotech and medical insurance right now. Not sure if the stocks are bargains or soon to be wreckage. Some AI companies are developing powerful AI loaded with decades of information that will allow the conducting of tests using AI which is supposed to advance and quicken drug discovery. I'm betting AI will seriously help with medical diagnosis allowing a bunch of information to be fed into an AI machine to assist doctors. It's going to be like a sci fi movie come to life at some point, but even better like smartphones can do more than Star Trek communicators.

[Aseahawkfan]

I've considered cutting the cable and going with something like FUBO as I watch very little TV besides sports and news. The problem is, my wife is not a sports fan at all and watches mostly programs that are standard cable TV offerings. So, to get the variety of programing that would satisfy us both, we would likely need to subscribe to a number of streaming services. The other issue is that it seems to me the economics of cable cutting are not as favorable as they once were. As more and more people have cut the cable and gone to streaming services, streaming service prices have increased significantly in response to the demand. As of now, xfinity cable TV still seems to be the best route for our household. It gives both of us most of the programming we want and when bundled with Internet and digital TV is probably more cost efficient than trying to cover all the bases with streaming.

You are right. In the business world the price of starting your own streaming service has come down so that every major studio or network can start their own streaming services, then battle over content to get you to buy their service. Each of them control some major properties people want to watch. There is a streaming war going on and Netflix is dominant, but a lot of people are battling for second or third. Cable still has everything on one big service.

Disney just reported earnings and their cable business is slowly dropping and streaming is not generating the same revenues as cable did. People initially though Disney's streaming service would completely replace the revenues lost from losing the Disney channel and other associated cable revenues, but that has not been the case. Disney's trying to adjust now. Streaming sports is probably one of the revenue channels they want to build as any company that becomes dominant in streaming sports will make a lot of money. Having ESPN and NFL channel which a lot of people like to watch would be pretty lucrative.

FUBO from what I have seen is expensive. They are competing for content against some really big players with a lot of money. The only reason Disney proposed the merger is FUBO won a court case against a few of the big players monopolizing the streaming sports industry. Now with Biden's anti-corporate FTC head Lina Kahn gone, they may be able to wait out the lawsuit and then destroy FUBO.

I really want to see if Disney really intends to do this merger because FUBOs financials are bad. The only reason they won their lawsuit may have been an anti-mega corp friendly administration, so Disney made this merger deal to wait Lina Kahn out.

I'm really waiting to see how this plays out. My feeling is FUBO is going to get squashed by Disney, but maybe, just maybe DIsney sees some value in the FUBO merger.

Since they are getting a 70 percent ownership stake, they could do the merger driving up the FUBO stock price allowing Disney to sell out of their shares, then leave FUBO to be destroyed once they sell out, then buy FUBO after making a few billion in capital gains buying FUBO at penny's on the dollar laughing all the way to bank.

That would be one of hell of a ruthless and profitable corporate move. I have to say Disney is not known for sharing. It took them years to get all their Marvel properties back from Fox, but they did it. They did do a deal with Sony for Spiderman movies, but they'd love to have them back too. Will Disney play nice with FUBO? Going to be interesting. FUBO is no Sony. They are a tiny company Disney and the other bigger companies were looking to destroy until a FTC favorable to smaller corporations saved them.

[River Dog]

I've considered cutting the cable and going with something like FUBO as I watch very little TV besides sports and news. The problem is, my wife is not a sports fan at all and watches mostly programs that are standard cable TV offerings. So, to get the variety of programing that would satisfy us both, we would likely need to subscribe to a number of streaming services. The other issue is that it seems to me the economics of cable cutting are not as favorable as they once were. As more and more people have cut the cable and gone to streaming services, streaming service prices have increased significantly in response to the demand. As of now, xfinity cable TV still seems to be the best route for our household. It gives both of us most of the programming we want and when bundled with Internet and digital TV is probably more cost efficient than trying to cover all the bases with streaming.

You might want to consider sharing a subscription with friends or family members. I'm sharing my Fubo subscription with my daughter and brother. I'm paying $84.99/month for their Pro plan, which includes their regional sports package ie Root Sports, and they let me watch programming on up to 10 devices at the same time. Next month, I'll change my subscription to the plan which includes the Red Zone for an extra $20/month then change it back in January after the regular season is over.

Ironically, I just got an email from Fubo that said my membership now includes ESPN+, and at least so far, they haven't raised my subscription price. It's not a huge bonus for me as about the only thing I'll watch on it that I can't otherwise get will be an exclusive MNF game in October.

[Stream Hawk]

Thanks for the Fubo rec. I signed up for a month and no complaints.

[River Dog]

Thanks for the Fubo rec. I signed up for a month and no complaints.

Anything for a fellow Shack-up.

My only complaint about Fubo is their fast forward/rewind feature. I like to record the prime time games then start watching about an hour after kickoff so I can fast forward through the commercials and halftime. It only goes in 15 second increments and can be very slow, especially on MNF when everyone is watching and overloading the feed, and unlike Prime Video, which has their buttons in the center of the screen and ghosted out, Fubo's is at the bottom on the task bar.

I haven't utilized the fast forwarding yet this year, but plan to do so soon as I have yet to watch our first preseason game, so maybe they've improved it.

[Aseahawkfan]

You might want to consider sharing a subscription with friends or family members. I'm sharing my Fubo subscription with my daughter and brother. I'm paying $84.99/month for their Pro plan, which includes their regional sports package ie Root Sports, and they let me watch programming on up to 10 devices at the same time. Next month, I'll change my subscription to the plan which includes the Red Zone for an extra $20/month then change it back in January after the regular season is over.

Ironically, I just got an email from Fubo that said my membership now includes ESPN+, and at least so far, they haven't raised my subscription price. It's not a huge bonus for me as about the only thing I'll watch on it that I can't otherwise get will be an exclusive MNF game in October.

Disney already gave access to ESPN+ on FUBO? Hmm. Maybe they do intend to do this merger. I may need to grab some shares. FUBO backed up by Disney's money would make that business viable. I think i will pick up 3 or 400 shares when the market opens Monday. Start off small and grow. Thanks for that info. That's the kind of little tidbit you want to hear prior to a merger like this. If Disney backs FUBO to push into streaming sports, that would likely be at least a double to triple or more my money.

If this little tidbit makes me some money, I'll at least say thank you since I'm unlikely to see you to buy you a beer.

[River Dog]

You might want to consider sharing a subscription with friends or family members. I'm sharing my Fubo subscription with my daughter and brother. I'm paying $84.99/month for their Pro plan, which includes their regional sports package ie Root Sports, and they let me watch programming on up to 10 devices at the same time. Next month, I'll change my subscription to the plan which includes the Red Zone for an extra $20/month then change it back in January after the regular season is over.

Ironically, I just got an email from Fubo that said my membership now includes ESPN+, and at least so far, they haven't raised my subscription price. It's not a huge bonus for me as about the only thing I'll watch on it that I can't otherwise get will be an exclusive MNF game in October.

Disney already gave access to ESPN+ on FUBO? Hmm. Maybe they do intend to do this merger. I may need to grab some shares. FUBO backed up by Disney's money would make that business viable. I think i will pick up 3 or 400 shares when the market opens Monday. Start off small and grow. Thanks for that info. That's the kind of little tidbit you want to hear prior to a merger like this. If Disney backs FUBO to push into streaming sports, that would likely be at least a double to triple or more my money.

If this little tidbit makes me some money, I'll at least say thank you since I'm unlikely to see you to buy you a beer.

Hehe! Good luck!

But I'm not holding my breath. This is the biggest time of the year for sports-related streaming services as people like me are making decisions on how they're going to get their football fix this fall. It could be just a marketing ploy, and that they'll raise their subscription fees later in the year.

I also noticed where you can get the Red Zone on Prime Video. I'd drop my subscription level on Fubo to save me $20/month had it not been for the fact that my brother and daughter are sharing the Fubo subscription with me.

[Aseahawkfan]

Hehe! Good luck!

But I'm not holding my breath. This is the biggest time of the year for sports-related streaming services as people like me are making decisions on how they're going to get their football fix this fall. It could be just a marketing ploy, and that they'll raise their subscription fees later in the year.

I also noticed where you can get the Red Zone on Prime Video. I'd drop my subscription level on Fubo to save me $20/month had it not been for the fact that my brother and daughter are sharing the Fubo subscription with me.

Red zone on Prime video? Amazon is not a great company to compete against.

That's another reason I invested. The next few quarters are like Christmas for FUBO. They came out with earnings. Their subscribers dropped off some in the non-NFL quarters. We have the NFL season coming up and the World Series. More people will sign up, their revenue will look better, and they may get a nice stock pop in the new few quarters. Then good merger news. Now they offer ESPN, if the Disney merger occurs and they offer exclusive NFL network, could be a nice move up.

[River Dog]

Hehe! Good luck!

But I'm not holding my breath. This is the biggest time of the year for sports-related streaming services as people like me are making decisions on how they're going to get their football fix this fall. It could be just a marketing ploy, and that they'll raise their subscription fees later in the year.

I also noticed where you can get the Red Zone on Prime Video. I'd drop my subscription level on Fubo to save me $20/month had it not been for the fact that my brother and daughter are sharing the Fubo subscription with me.

Red zone on Prime video? Amazon is not a great company to compete against.

That's another reason I invested. The next few quarters are like Christmas for FUBO. They came out with earnings. Their subscribers dropped off some in the non-NFL quarters. We have the NFL season coming up and the World Series. More people will sign up, their revenue will look better, and they may get a nice stock pop in the new few quarters. Then good merger news. Now they offer ESPN, if the Disney merger occurs and they offer exclusive NFL network, could be a nice move up.

Yeah, I need to look into it a little further. My research says that it's not available on Prime Video, but I damn sure saw it on my menu. It might not be a live program.

[Aseahawkfan]

Yeah, I need to look into it a little further. My research says that it's not available on Prime Video, but I damn sure saw it on my menu. It might not be a live program.

If FUBO gets exclusive access to Red Zone and NFL network and products, this stock could really blow up. I heard they are very big for international soccer and college football too.

[Stream Hawk]

I bought some shares. With kids I’ve been pretty safe with stock options over the years. I’ll thank you both if it blows up!

[Aseahawkfan]

Is ESPN live part of FUBO's package now? Seems ESPN has started a streaming package of their own. Are they offering it on FUBO? It doesn't sound like it is part of Hulu Live. Hulu Live is who FUBO is merging with. I'm starting to wonder if Disney is positioning to go their own way or is ESPN Live going to be on FUBO. Anyone see it on FUBO yet?

[River Dog]

Is ESPN live part of FUBO's package now? Seems ESPN has started a streaming package of their own. Are they offering it on FUBO? It doesn't sound like it is part of Hulu Live. Hulu Live is who FUBO is merging with. I'm starting to wonder if Disney is positioning to go their own way or is ESPN Live going to be on FUBO. Anyone see it on FUBO yet?

ESPN always has been part of FUBO's package. I would never have signed up with FUBO had they not carried it as the reason for my doing so was that two years ago, my then TV provider Charter Spectrum got into a contract dispute with Disney and I wasn't going to be able to watch MNF.

The problem with Hulu is that they do not have Root Sports, ie the Mariners.

[Aseahawkfan]

ESPN always has been part of FUBO's package. I would never have signed up with FUBO had they not carried it as the reason for my doing so was that two years ago, my then TV provider Charter Spectrum got into a contract dispute with Disney and I wasn't going to be able to watch MNF.

The problem with Hulu is that they do not have Root Sports, ie the Mariners.

What about the new sports streaming service ESPN is starting? Apparently Disney/ESPN are starting a sports streaming service with a 29.99 to 39.99 cost. I'm wondering if this is going to compete against FUBO or be offered on FUBO with DIsney taking a 70 percent stake in FUBO if the merger happens.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2025/08/espn-launches-new-direct-to-consumer-service-enhanced-espn-app/

Is this service competing with FUBO or offered on FUBO? If Disney starts competing with FUBO and undercuts them on price, then they may not be serious about this merger. I'm trying to figure out the angle on this.

[River Dog]

ESPN always has been part of FUBO's package. I would never have signed up with FUBO had they not carried it as the reason for my doing so was that two years ago, my then TV provider Charter Spectrum got into a contract dispute with Disney and I wasn't going to be able to watch MNF.

The problem with Hulu is that they do not have Root Sports, ie the Mariners.

What about the new sports streaming service ESPN is starting? Apparently Disney/ESPN are starting a sports streaming service with a 29.99 to 39.99 cost. I'm wondering if this is going to compete against FUBO or be offered on FUBO with DIsney taking a 70 percent stake in FUBO if the merger happens.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2025/08/espn-launches-new-direct-to-consumer-service-enhanced-espn-app/

Is this service competing with FUBO or offered on FUBO? If Disney starts competing with FUBO and undercuts them on price, then they may not be serious about this merger. I'm trying to figure out the angle on this.

If I understand your question correctly, Fubo does offer direct-to-consumer packages:

Direct-to-Consumer Sports Services via Fubo
Fubo allows users to subscribe to several popular DTC sports platforms without needing a full cable-style channel bundle, including:

NBA League Pass

FanDuel Sports Network

Paramount+

This gives you flexibility to pick and choose premium sports content without committing to a traditional pay-TV package.

At least as far as I'm concerned, until ESPN/Disney is able to televise live Mariners games, I'm sticking with Fubo, at least during the baseball season.

[4XPIPS]

FUBO NO MORE!! Uggh, they have done the VPN crap. I have been very happy with FUBO, but this year, they have introduced a VPN detection feature, which now significantly reduces my ability to watch specific regional games from my location. Now I have to subscribe to DAZN, which only shows NFL Game Pass so I still get the Seahawks, but I lose access to all my college football. It's a matter of time where VPNs will become useless with TV viewing from outside regions.

[Aseahawkfan]

FUBO NO MORE!! Uggh, they have done the VPN crap. I have been very happy with FUBO, but this year, they have introduced a VPN detection feature, which now significantly reduces my ability to watch specific regional games from my location. Now I have to subscribe to DAZN, which only shows NFL Game Pass so I still get the Seahawks, but I lose access to all my college football. It's a matter of time where VPNs will become useless with TV viewing from outside regions.

I don't like that. I derisked my FUBO shares with an option, but I don't like hearing about VPN problems as watching NFL football from outside region is probably part of the appeal.