Fubo on Monday unveiled a new marketing agreement that makes the company the official streaming partner for the Pac-12 conference.
The agreement covers all games played by the 12 member universities, including the likes of the University of Southern California, UCLA, and Stanford. Fubo will also be the official streaming partner of the 2023 Pac-12 Football Championship Game, the 2024 Pac-12 men and women’s basketball tournaments and other conference events.
The announcement comes as the fate of the Pac-12 remains in question, with 10 of the 12 Pac-12 schools ready to leave for the Big 10, and Big 12 next season, leaving only two schools left. This could turn the Pac-12 into the Pac-2 if some deals are not reached soon, and will likely lead to the ultimate end of the conference.
For Fubo, the sponsorship marks the latest sports partnership for the streaming services after striking similar deals with the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, the Seattle Mariners and more. The deal underscores the importance of sports — particularly live games — in the world of streaming. While sports has largely been the domain of traditional cable and satellite services, the fact that players like Fubo and YouTube TV are offering their own sports packages represents a shift in how people are watching their content.
“We’re excited to grow our marketing partnership with Pac-12, which is Fubo’s first with a college conference,” said Yale Wang, senior vice president of marketing for Fubo. “College sports have always been a highly engaged, passionate fanbase for Fubo. This year in particular, we’re seeing even greater interest in Pac-12 games as their football teams are also having an exceptionally strong season. Fubo is proud to stream Pac-12 along with every college conference.”
There are three Pac-12 teams in the top 10 as of Week 7: Washington, Oregon, and USC, who are all undefeated.
Fubo had originally struck its distribution deal with the Pac-12 back in 2017, and is one of just a few live streaming services to offer all seven Pac-12 networks.
Correction: We have updated the story to correctly list all the schools leaving the Pac-12.