• by Wayne Friedman , May 11, 2021

Sports-centric virtual pay TV provider fuboTV witnessed first-quarter revenue growth of 135% to $119.7 million -- as well as similar subscriber gains.

Subscriber growth was up 105% to 590,430. Subscription revenue added 131% to $107.1 million.

“For the first time in any first quarter, we reported sequential revenue and subscriber growth, despite past seasonality trends,” says David Gandler, co-founder/CEO of fuboTV, in the company's earnings press release. “This tells us that consumers are increasingly cutting the cord.”

Advertising revenue is still a small part of fuboTV's overall business -- although it is growing. Ad revenue climbed more than two times to $12.6 million.

The company’s average revenue per user (ARPU) grew 28% higher to $69.09.

Monthly packages for consumers range from $64.99 (95 channels) to $79.99 a month (153 channels).

At the same time, the pay TV provider widened its net loss 5% year-over-year to $70.2 million.

The company projects total 2021 revenue of between $520 million and $530 million, with subscribers totaling between 830,000 and 850,000.

As part of this focus on sports TV content, fuboTV -- like other sports TV platforms -- is increasing its ties to sports gaming and wagering business.

The company will launch its free-to play gaming effort in the third quarter of this year, and fubo Sportsbook, its sports betting and interactive gaming platform, in the fourth quarter.