Disney’s plan to conquer the world of sports through Venu, just like it has everything else, has been dealt something of a blow. A live TV streaming service called Fubo has lawyered up and launched an antitrust lawsuit.
Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery were aiming to launch a new sports streaming service as a joint venture.
It was to be called Venu Sports and would combine all the current content from the extensive reach of the involved parties. It would serve up both live and on-demand sports into one place from the fifteen different networks controlled by the companies, including – ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNews, ESPN Plus, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS and TruTV.
It was to launch this Fall and be priced at $43 per month.
The Fubo case claimed Venu Sports should be blocked on anti-trust grounds. Their lawsuit claimed the project was:
“…a product of a monopolistic cartel intent on crushing any competitors.”
A New York federal judge has agreed, and Venu is currently blocked. In her ruling, she outlined:
“[Sports] remained a crucial and irreplaceable source of revenue and power. The multi-year monopolistic runway they [Venu] have created for themselves will provide powerful incentives to thwart competition and hike prices on both consumers and other distributors.”
Venu controlling partners have, of course, hit back:
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and are appealing it. We believe that Fubo’s arguments are wrong on the facts and the law, and that Fubo has failed to prove it is legally entitled to a preliminary injunction.”
Does anyone doubt that the combined might of the lawyerocracy will win out in the end and this will be steamrollered through?