Looking to build its attractiveness ahead of an expected sports betting launch in both Indiana and Iowa later this year, FuboTV announced Wednesday a carriage agreement with the Marquee Sports Network that will bring the Chicago Cubs TV network to its livestreaming platform.
Indiana and Iowa are two of three states — along with New Jersey — where FuboTV has market access for sports wagering. It reached an agreement with Caesars Entertainment for access to the Hoosier State in early March and Casino Queen in the Hawkeye State in January. The carriage deal will let viewers in both states livestream Cubs games, most notably the South Bend and Indianapolis markets in Indiana and the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids markets in Iowa.
“We’re excited to add Marquee Sports Network and their coverage of the Chicago Cubs to FuboTV,” FuboTV’s co-founder and CEO David Gandler said in a statement. “Our Fubo Gaming subsidiary is headquartered in Chicago, and the Midwest market, particularly Indiana and Iowa where we recently closed market access agreements, will be a key cluster for our gaming strategy in the future.”
Market competitiveness
The Cubs’ top minor league affiliate is located in Des Moines, and they have a High Class A team in South Bend, making the carriage agreement good business sense. Neither Indiana nor Iowa has a Major League Baseball team, and thanks to the Cubs’ history of being on Superstation WGN prior to them creating the Marquee Sports Network, they enjoy a strong regional following throughout the Midwest.
The Iowa and Indiana sports betting markets have proven highly competitive as they entered the national picture a month apart in 2019. The Hawkeye State has posted a monthly handle of at least $100 million in December, January, and February as it became the seventh state to clear $1 billion in handle in the post-PASPA era.
Indiana, which has had remote registration available nearly the entire time since its September 2019 launch, has been a consistent top-six market in terms of monthly handle and has generated more than $2.8 billion in wagers.
