The streaming MVPD Fubo has won an injunction to block the new Venu Sports streaming service — a joint venture of Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Sports — from launching.
Judge Margaret Garnett granted Fubo’s request for a preliminary injunction against Venu on the grounds that the company appeared “likely to succeed” in proving that Venu constitutes a violation of antitrust law. Fubo said Venu had a distinct advantage over other distributors as it would only carry relevant sports networks, whereas the other streaming platforms are forced to bundle those channels with other, low-rated fare.
Garnett agreed, stating that Venu would at launch become “the only option on the market for those television consumers who want to spend their money on multiple live sports channels … but not on superfluous entertainment channels” (emphasis in original). She further noted that it would have such exclusive status only because of the longstanding practices of its owners, which have required that distributors carry their lower-rated networks as a condition of licensing their sports channels.
Venu was reportedly set to launch a week from Friday — August 23 — ahead of the start of football season. Its price point of $43 per month was to be lower than any of the competing streaming services, though it was also set to carry fewer channels due to the exclusion of NBC and CBS.
In addition to the Fubo lawsuit, Venu faced congressional scrutiny from Congressman Joaquin Castro and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who in a letter this month requested the Department of Justice look into the venture.
In her decision Friday, Garnett said she was unaware of any “third party extolling the allegedly pro-competitive benefits of the JV, nor publicly supporting its launch,” outside of defense witness and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti.
For their part, the properitors of Venu said Friday that they “respectfully disagree” and are appealing the ruling. “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. 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.”
