Fubo is known for offering more sports than just about any live TV streaming service. Now, it's making it easier than ever for cord-cutters to stream sports and streaming services without needing cable.
Yesterday (Oct. 22), Fubo announced that it was launching new standalone streaming services. These services — like Paramount Plus with Showtime and NBA League Pass — would now be available to all without needing a Fubo subscription.
Now that doesn't mean these services are free. What it means is that you can now get services like Paramount Plus with Showtime and NBA League Pass without needing a channel package from Fubo. That's a big deal, as Fubo's cheapest plan for most people is its Pro plan, which costs $80 a month.
It also means you can take advantage of one of Fubo's biggest selling points without needing a Fubo channel plan.
Fubo standalone subscriptions are a big win for sports fans
Among the best cable replacements we've tested, Fubo is the best to offer access to regional sports networks (RSNs). These RSNs offer markets local games from NBA, NHL and MLB teams and often are left off live TV services like YouTube TV because they incur regional sports network fees.
YouTube TV, which promises no hidden fees, doesn't want to ... well, charge you a hidden fee. So instead it simply opts not to offer these RSNs in the first place.
Now though, if you are a YouTube TV subscriber in a market where RSNs show a majority of your home team's games, you could sign up for FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports Network) as a standalone service from Fubo. You get your cake and you can eat it too, and Fubo gets you as a customer when it otherwise wouldn't have. Everyone wins.
There is a catch at the moment. Only FanDuel Sports Network is offered as a standalone subscription. That means if you have an NBC Universal RSN, MASN, NESN, etc., you're out of luck for now. But for those like me who live in a FanDuel Sports Network RSN market, it's a big win.
Fubo standalone subscriptions: How it works
With this new launch, Fubo now offers three product tiers:
- Fubo Free: A streaming service of ad-supported channels (FAST). This is offered to former Fubo paid and free trial subscribers as well as to subscribers of standalone premium subscription services.
- Premium Subscription Services: These are the standalone subscriptions we've been talking about, and can be added to Fubo Free (for a monthly fee) without needing a Fubo channel plan.
- Virtual MVPD: This is Fubo's traditional offering of channel packages, offering numerous channels from a variety of categories for a monthly fee.
Based on this, it seems like if you sign up for a standalone service, you'll also get Fubo Free, which gives you nearly 200 FAST channels.
Unfortunately, at the moment we couldn't find a way to sign up for the standalone premium subscription services. But once it fully rolls out, you should be able to sign up directly from Fubo.
