Manhattan federal judge: Venu Sports joint venture would allegedly violate antitrust law

August 16, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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MANHATTAN AND NATIONWIDE — THE LAUNCH OF VENU SPORTS WILL BE DELAYED after a federal judge granted FuboTV’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the planned sports streaming venture by other major networks, ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery. U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) stated in her 69-page ruling that Fubo was likely to successfully prove during a trial that the joint venture would violate antitrust laws, and that Fubo and consumers would “face irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.” FuboTV indicated in its filing that, although it has tried for years to offer a sports-only streaming service, it has been prevented from doing so because ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have imposed bundling requirements. FuboTV claims the restrictions would force it “to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to license and broadcast content that its customers do not want or need.”

If and when Venu Sports could begin streaming, the platform would include offerings from 14 linear networks including, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, TNT, TBS, truTV and ESPN+. Subscribers would also be able to bundle the product with Disney+, Hulu and Max.

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