The first of two major sports-related Disney acquisitions has officially closed.
Disney and Fubo announced Wednesday that the merger of Fubo and Disney’s Hulu + Live TV has officially closed, completing a deal that combines two of the five primary streaming MVPDs. As noted when the merger was first proposed back in January, Fubo and Hulu will remain two separate offerings under the leadership of the existing Fubo management team.
Though Fubo said earlier in the year that it expected the deal to close by Q4, the uncertain regulatory environment was viewed as a potential wrench in that timeline. In April, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the merger, a move that paused the usual 30-day waiting period on merger transactions. But according to multiple reports, the DOJ has since signed off, with Ben Horney of Front Office Sports reporting that approval came last week.
The decision to approve the merger came as the pause triggered by the aforementioned DOJ investigation was set to expire. Eriq Gardner of Puck reported Tuesday night that the ongoing government shutdown has resulted in “many” staffers in the Antitrust Division being furloughed, meaning that “deadlines could lapse with regulators quite literally out of office.”
Gardner also suggested the reduced DOJ workforce could impact the pending Disney deal to acquire NFL Media assets, including NFL Network.
But it is not necessarily the case that the government shutdown alone influenced the approval decision. The aggressive regulatory posture the government has taken so far this year is a departure from what was expected when the current administration took office — and as far as media goes, it has been largely been confined to the Brendan Carr-led FCC. There had been a widespread expectation that mergers and acquisitions would be easier under this administration, and though that has been far from the case so far, it could be that some appointees are less inclined than others to apply pressure or extract concessions via the regulatory process. The FCC, it should be noted, had no jurisdiction over this merger.
The Disney-Fubo deal completes a whirlwind 20-month process that began with Disney partnering with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corporation on a joint sport-specific streaming venture in February of last year (later called “Venu Sports”). Fubo filed an antitrust lawsuit almost immediately and was granted an injunction to block the launch of Venu months later.
After months of apparent stasis, Disney and Fubo announced their merger agreement in January, which coincided with Fubo dropping its lawsuit — seemingly paving the way for Venu to launch. But the project would be abandoned soon after, as DIRECTV and Dish seemed poised to mount their own legal challenge.
The merger leaves only four companies competing in the streaming MVPD space: Disney (Fubo/Hulu), Google (YouTube TV), Dish (Sling) and DIRECTV. Dish and DIRECTV were at one point considering a merger as well.
