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  • The Venu Sports Streaming Bundle Will Be Benched for a Bit

    The Venu Sports Streaming Bundle Will Be Benched for a Bit

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    Is this how ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery feel?
    Photo: GeorgePeters/Getty Images

    Huddle up, y’all. There’s been a hiccup in the launch of Venu, the planned sports streaming bundle from three heavy hitters in the media landscape. Per CNN, a judge has delayed Venu’s launch by granting FuboTV’s request for a preliminary injunction against the joint venture by Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and the Walt Disney Company (you might see some reports swap ESPN into that last slot; ESPN is majority-owned by Disney). Fubo filed a lawsuit two weeks after Venu was announced back in February, arguing that the bundle would violate antitrust laws and cause consumers to “face irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.” On Friday, a New York district judge ruled that Fubo would likely succeed in proving those claims in trial. Unsurprisingly, Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery said they plan to appeal, claiming that “Venu Sports is a pro-competitive option that aims to enhance consumer choice by reaching a segment of viewers who currently are not served by existing subscription options.” As we previously reported, Venu promised to offer its subscribers a dizzying amount of sports coverage through access to all ESPN channels, ESPN+, ABC, FOX, TNT, TBS, and TruTV … plus programs like 30 for 30 via the ESPN library. Venu was originally set to debut this fall with a locked-in “launch price” of $42.99 per month for one year, but the Associated Press now reports that the launch will likely be pushed until at least 2025.

    According to Courthouse News, Fubo said in its filing that it has long wanted to launch a sports-only streaming service, but that it faced difficulties because networks allegedly charged unfairly high licensing costs and forced bundles with entertainment channels that sports fans don’t want. “Today’s ruling is a victory not only for Fubo but also for consumers,” David Gandler, Fubo co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement. “This decision will help ensure that consumers have access to a more competitive marketplace with multiple sports streaming options.” Keep in mind, though, that a preliminary injunction is basically just a timeout. In other words, Friday’s decision is a temporary delay, not a permanent block. A trial date for the antitrust lawsuit has yet to be set. So you’ve got some time to decide, sports fans — are you Team Fubo or not?

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    Jennifer Zhan

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  • Fubo wins injunction to delay Disney-Fox-Warner’s live sports streamer Venu

    Fubo wins injunction to delay Disney-Fox-Warner’s live sports streamer Venu

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    The sports streaming service Fubo has temporarily fended off a huge financial threat from Disney-Fox-Warner’s potential competitor Venu Sports and its collection of sports broadcasting licenses thanks to a recent court ruling. A federal judge in the Southern District of New York granted Fubo’s request for an injunction in its antitrust case against the joint sports streaming venture and its parent companies.

    US District Judge Margaret Garnett wrote in an opinion issued earlier today such a concentrated collection of media power would eliminate consumers’ choices. The launch of Venu would also “hike prices on both consumers and other distributors” and create a “multi-year monopolistic runway” in the sports streaming sector for Disney, Fox and Warner.

    “Even if the [joint venture] defendants swear that such price-hiking and competition excluding will not actually occur (though…there is good reason to believe that it will),” the opinion reads, “one purpose of antitrust injunctions is to prevent anticompetitive incentives from forming in the first place so that American consumers do not have to simply take their word for it and hope for the best.”

    Garnett also wrote the injunction is needed because of “quintessential harms that money cannot adequately repair” if Fox-Disney-Warner’s Venu Sports moves forward.

    Fox-Disney-Warner first announced its plans to launch a live sports streaming channel in February and later revealed the name and price for its Venu Sports streaming service. The joint sports streaming venture will cost viewers $42.99 a month with a seven-day free trial and promises 14 channels of live sporting events with access to ESPN+ and four of its spinoff channels, the Fox network and both of its Fox Sports channels and a handful of Warner Bros. owned cable networks such as TNT and TruTV, according to a press release.

    Fubo filed its lawsuit a couple of weeks after Fox-Disney-Warner’s initial announcement. Fubo’s antitrust lawsuit accused the trio of media giants of staging “a years-long campaign” to weaken its sports streaming service. The suit also claimed the joint venture would concentrate too many entities in one service and would hinder competitiveness and jack up prices for viewers and distributors.

    The injunction puts a temporary hold on Fox-Disney-Warner’s plans for Venu Sports. Its fate will ultimately be determined by the antitrust case in federal court.

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    Danny Gallagher

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