The launch of sports superstreamer Venu Sports, a joint venture by ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery, will have to wait until 2025, if not longer. A federal judge has granted FuboTV’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
The three media giants had been planning to launch the new platform in a few months but now the US District Judge Margaret Garnett in the Southern District of New York has essentially sided with FuboTV, another live sports streamer.
In a ruling, the judge said that FuboTV was likely to be successful in proving during a trial that Venu Sports would violate antitrust laws, and that FuboTV and American consumers would “face irreparable harm.”
Even though Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and ESPN said they would appeal the ruling, the launch of the new streamer will now likely be delayed until at least next year.
In its lawsuit, filed weeks after the new streamer was announced in February, FuboTV said it was forced to carry dozens of pricey, non-sports channels as a condition of licensing sports rights from the companies in a scheme to stifle competition. This is costly.
“Today’s ruling is a victory not only for Fubo but also for consumers. This decision will help ensure that consumers have access to a more competitive marketplace with multiple sports streaming options,” Fubo co-founder and CEO David Gandler said in a statement.
“But our fight continues. FuboTV has said all along that we seek equal treatment from these media giants, and a level playing field in our industry.”
He added that FuboTV believed that the media giants monopolize the market, stifle competition, and “cheat consumers from deserved choice.”
“A fair and competitive marketplace is necessary to provide consumers with multiple, robust and more affordable sports streaming options. We will continue to fight for fairness and for what’s best for consumers,” said Gandler.
Progressive US lawmakers have also recently called on the Justice Department to initiate a probe of Venu Sports.
In a public letter, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and Representative Joaquin Castro said that the DOJ and the Federal Communications Commission should stop the three giant media companies from pooling their sports licensing rights.
According to the lawmakers, the new platform, announced in February 2024 and scheduled to launch by fall, will push the prices higher by further consolidating the market for live sports.
“This massive new sports streaming company would be poised to control more than 80% of nationally broadcast sports and more than half of all national sports content, putting it in a position to exercise monopoly power over televised sports,” the lawmakers, including Congressman Joaquin Castro, wrote.
“The market power of its three giant parent companies would enable it to discriminate against competitors and increase prices for consumers.”
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