Launch of Disney’s sports streaming venture delayed by US judge

A US judge has temporarily blocked the launch of a new sports venture backed by Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, and FOX.

A US judge recently delayed the launch of a new sports venture by Walt Disney, FOX, and Warner Bros Discovery, aiming to capture the younger sports fans who don’t watch games on television. In February this year, Fubo TV, a rival sports streaming service, sued the giant media companies and accused them of antitrust practices that would block competition and inflate consumer prices. The US judge noticed it was likely to succeed in its antitrust claims and issued an order.

Media companies plan to launch Venu Sports.

The top media companies have planned to launch Venu Sports, combining thousands of live professional and collegiate sporting events into a single app. It was scheduled to make a debut this fall. However, US District Judge Margaret Garnett wrote, “If the JV is allowed to launch, it will be the only option in the market for those television consumers who want to spend their money on multiple live sports channels they love to watch, but not on superfluous entertainment channels they do not.” He further wrote that Venu’s media partners could “exercise near-monopolistic control,” over sports rights to prevent competitors from getting into the market. He wrote that the joint venture partners “explicitly agreed to ‘stay clear’ of supporting another platform like Venu” for at least the next three years.

Fubo’s frustration in launching a pure sports service.

Fubo, however, argued that it was frustrated with its ability to launch a pure sports service because the media companies providing content forced it to carry “unwanted non-sports networks that its consumers rarely watch.” However, the three media companies said in a statement that they believed arguments by Fubo were wrong, and they informed about appealing the court’s ruling. Daniel Konstantinovic, an Emarketer analyst, said that if Venu is forced to get launched in the market late into the NFL professional football season, it could lose on potential customers.

The US judge Garnett in New York said, “Absent an injunction, Fubo has made a clear showing that it faces imminent subscriber loss, likely followed by bankruptcy, de-listing, and the collapse of its business.”