FuboTV, the sports streaming service, has taken another major step into the gambling industry. The company has announced their purchase of online sportsbook Vigtory.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but FuboTV disclosed they expect the deal to be concluded in the first quarter of this year. The streaming service’s plan is to integrate Vigtory into their TV platform, while still making it available for those not currently subscribed to FuboTV. The full integration is expected to happen before the end of 2021.
Sam Rattner and Scott Butera, founder and co-CEO of Vigtory respectively, will take on roles as COO and President at FuboTV. The pair came to Vigtory after leaving BetMGM in 2020. who joined the company last year following a stint at BetMGM, are joining FuboTV’s gaming division as chief operating officer and president.
Shares of the streaming service quickly climbed on the news, climbing 34% to $36.48. This marks a steady step in the company’s recovery, which peaked at $68 a share last year, but then bottomed out at $24.24, as skeptics sold the company based on its sub-par offering against the competition.
But with nearly half a million subscribers, and a new vision of a streaming/sports betting model, FuboTV is joining several other media companies that have either purchase or partnered with gambling operations to take advantage of the American sports betting gold mine.
Penn National Gaming proved this works in reverse with their purchase of Barstool Sports, hailing the investment as one of their bright spots in 2020. BetMGM had a similar strategy by partnering with Yahoo Sports, while DraftKings partnered with Turner Sports.
FuboTV took the first step in this direction back in early December when it bought Balto Sports, the Nick Montana founded fantasy sports contest site, and has partnered with FanDuel since 2019. At the time, co-founder and CEO David Gandler noted that sports betting would be a “natural progression” for the company.
