Disney, the entertainment behemoth that never met a merger it didn’t like, has announced its latest conquest: a 70% ownership stake in the combined Hulu+ Live TV and Fubo Frankenstein streaming bundle. The deal, which will take 12-18 months to close, leaves Fubo shareholders clinging to the remaining 30%, which, to be fair, is a lot better than their $1.44 stock price last week suggested they’d get.
For now, Hulu+ Live TV and Fubo will stay separate, meaning consumers can keep squinting at two different interfaces to figure out where Monday Night Football lives this week. But Fubo CEO David Gandler promised investors “synergies” on the backend, which is corporate speak for “we’ll eventually duct-tape these platforms together and hope you don’t notice the seams.”
Hulu+ Live TV brings entertainment-heavy programming to the table, while Fubo has staked its reputation on being the go-to for sports bros. Combined, the services boast 6.2 million subscribers—about the size of a mid-tier Netflix mistake—and are expected to make Fubo instantly cash flow positive. (It’s amazing what happens when Disney throws money and a cash-flow problem into the same room.)
The deal also comes with a big cherry on top: Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery are settling Fubo’s lawsuit over their ill-fated sports streamer, Venu, with a $220 million cash payment. If the merger falls apart, Fubo gets a $130 million consolation prize, which almost makes you wonder if they’re secretly rooting for it.
For now, Disney gets what it loves most: majority control, a new revenue stream, and another reason for subscribers to forget what “cord-cutting” was supposed to mean. Meanwhile, Fubo’s stockholders just had the best Monday ever, with shares soaring 190%. Streaming may still be a mess, but at least someone’s making money off it.