Judge blocks the launch of Venu Sports at Fubo’s request
Warner Bros. Discover, Fox and Disney announced earlier this year plans to launch the ultimate sports channel by the end of 2024. At the beginning of August, the three streaming giants confirmed that the new sports channel will go live in the United States sometime this fall.
They also revealed that the upcoming service will be available at launch for $42.99. According to Venu Sports, this is just an introductory offer that will only be available for a limited time, so the actual price of the service will be higher.
However, Fubo argued that the new package offered by Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox and Disney was priced so low that it gave it an unfair advantage over the competition.
As some of you probably know, Fubo already offers some of the channels included in the Venu Sports package. The issue is that Fubo has to pay more for these channels than the price Venu was asking.
U.S. District Judge Margarett Garnett granted Fubo’s preliminary injunction on Friday (via The Streamable). In the ruling, Judge Garnett explains that “the same players that used their longstanding bundling practices to create the void in the pay TV market tailor-made for the live-sports-only joint venture (Venu Sports) to fill, and also exercise near-monopolistic control over the ability for a different live-sports-only streaming service to exist and compete with the joint venture (Venu Sports).”
At launch Venu Sports was supposed to offer access to 14 linear sports networks including: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, and ESPN+.
Besides that, Venu promises customers extensive live games and events coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, international soccer, Grand Slam tennis, championship golf, F1, and more.
They also revealed that the upcoming service will be available at launch for $42.99. According to Venu Sports, this is just an introductory offer that will only be available for a limited time, so the actual price of the service will be higher.
As some of you probably know, Fubo already offers some of the channels included in the Venu Sports package. The issue is that Fubo has to pay more for these channels than the price Venu was asking.
U.S. District Judge Margarett Garnett granted Fubo’s preliminary injunction on Friday (via The Streamable). In the ruling, Judge Garnett explains that “the same players that used their longstanding bundling practices to create the void in the pay TV market tailor-made for the live-sports-only joint venture (Venu Sports) to fill, and also exercise near-monopolistic control over the ability for a different live-sports-only streaming service to exist and compete with the joint venture (Venu Sports).”
Judge Garnett went on to say that if Venu Sports launches, Fubo would lose a lot of subscribers, which would definitely lead to “Fubo’s bankruptcy and delisting of the company’s stock will likely soon follow. These are quintessential harms that money cannot adequately repair.”
Besides that, Venu promises customers extensive live games and events coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, international soccer, Grand Slam tennis, championship golf, F1, and more.
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