Streaming bundles are becoming a more and more important part of the cable landscape, and they’ve even helped some networks slow or stem the tide of subscriber losses, as we’ve seen in everything from comments from the likes of Disney CEO Bob Iger and 21st Century Fox president Peter Rice to actual coverage estimates from Nielsen and comScore. And many of those streaming bundles are particularly focused on attracting sports fans, which we’ve seen demonstrated by their marketing campaigns, their programming additions, their executive comments and more. With so many streaming bundle options out there, though, it can be tough to stand out in the crowd, and that’s what fuboTV is trying to do with a new ad campaign featuring their recurring character of “world’s greatest fan” “Fubo Chávez” taking a very tiny “sports bar” around the New York City streets and showing off sports on his phone:
“Hopefully if one thing happened to the New Yorkers of New York today, it’s that they learned they don’t need a sports bar or a table to carry around. All they need is fuboTV.”
That’s pretty funny, especially when it comes to him setting up shop in the street and getting honked at, or when it comes to the various facial reactions from passersby (and the one who punches him). The extremely tiny red Solo cups are a nice touch, too, as is the holding up the cable box and yelling “Freedom!” and the “Cut the cord!” chant on the subway.
This seems like a good way for fuboTV to get some attention in a crowded streaming marketplace. They started as a soccer-focused OTT service in early 2015, but made the transition to a more general package in late 2016 and have since received substantial funding from big media companies, including $55 million from the likes of Fox, Scripps and Sky in June 2017. And they’ve added significant programming, including CBS, Fox and NBC in many markets, NBCSN, FS1, some NBC regional networks and more. They’ve also just announced the addition of some non-sports networks, including AMC, BBC America, IFC and Sundance. Taking their pitch to the streets isn’t a bad idea, and they did this in a pretty clever way.
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.