Challenge

Mexico’s leading sports media brand, FOX Sports Mexico, airs sports coverage and entertainment across multiple television channels and publishes the latest sports news online. For more than two decades, the company has offered access to its TV coverage through traditional paid TV plans, reaching 15 million households. In 2019, it began offering subscription viewing via an app available through third parties such as the App Store or Google Play.

In 2023, FOX Sports set out to adapt to its audience’s changing viewing habits and attract new customers to its direct channel. To do this, the company decided to launch a new, more user-friendly app available on a wide variety of platforms, including Android TV, iOS, streaming devices, smart TVs, and browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. The app’s new features included higher video and audio quality, access to all programming and events across the brand’s four sports channels, the option to rewatch content for up to seven days, and upcoming event details. With the app’s increased accessibility and an improved customer experience, FOX Sports aimed to make it easier for customers to subscribe directly to FOX Sports and view its programming.

FOX Sports wanted to ensure the new app could offer secure transactions and reliable support for subscription billing. The company also wanted to reduce service interruptions and involuntary cancellations due to returned payments or outdated payment information.

Solution

FOX Sports chose Stripe after an extensive search for a payment provider that could deliver the simple, user-friendly experience the company needed. In particular, FOX Sports knew Stripe’s comprehensive suite of tools would support its need for a flexible, streamlined subscription management solution.

Stripe Payments gave FOX Sports the reliable, secure payment support it needed to create a smooth customer experience. And FOX Sports used Stripe Billing to manage its monthly subscription model and add different pricing models, premium experiences, and new payment options for subscribers. Billing has several features that increase the likelihood of a transaction going through, and reduce the kind of service interruptions and involuntary cancellations that FOX Sports had previously contended with. These features include Smart Retries, which uses machine learning to intelligently retry failed payment attempts at the best possible times. Other Billing features include automated failed payment emails and an automatic card updater, which can automatically update saved card details when a customer receives a new card. Together, these Billing features help businesses recover failed payments and reduce churn.

These added capabilities have helped FOX Sports retain existing customers, increase conversion, and appeal to new customers across a wider array of viewing platforms.

Results

FOX Sports launched its new app with payments and billing powered by Stripe within four months, creating a new way for sports fans to access FOX Sports content.

The app offered new functions compared to its original, basic app, all accessible through an easy payment and subscription billing flow. After releasing the improved app with Billing’s system for subscription management, FOX Sports saw involuntary churn drop while user retention rose by 54%. And due to the app’s ease of use, increased accessibility, and reliable support for recurring payments, the company’s subscription revenue increased by 20% within the first eight months after launch.