Regulatory and legal concerns
Following the initial announcement, the three companies involved stated that the formation of the joint venture would not affect their respective plans to compete with each other for sports broadcast rights going forward, nor would the joint-venture service seek any exclusive rights of its own.[15] Because of this, as well as the statement that all content will continue to be available through other platforms, many analysts initially indicated they did not expect the formation of the venture to raise antitrust concerns.[21]
Nonetheless, shortly after the announcement, traditional cable and satellite providers were reportedly reviewing the plans as to whether they may violate most favored nation clauses in existing contracts, unless the providers are allowed to also start offering lower-priced sports-focused packages. Analysts noted that some of these providers had been "begging for the right" to offer cheaper sports packages for years, but were blocked by programmers like Disney, Fox, and WBD, which had insisted that their sports channels be bundled with their other news and entertainment channels.[22]
The NFL was not informed about the service in advance of the February 2024 announcement, and shortly thereafter, media outlets reported the league was investigating whether it could block the service from carrying its games.[23]
The existing sports-focused vMVPD FuboTV also expressed concerns following the announcement about the venture's impact on "fair market competition".[21] On February 20, FuboTV filed an antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking either to block the venture entirely, or for the court to alternatively impose economic and licensing restrictions.[24] Satellite TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network both filed briefs in support of Fubo's suit in April.[25] A subsequent letter to congressional leaders requesting hearings into the service was co-signed by all three providers as well as groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation.[26]
The United States Department of Justice also stated that it plans to review the terms of the joint venture once it is finalized.[27] Separately, Rep. Jerry Nadler, the ranking member of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, and Rep. Joaquin Castro submitted a letter to Disney, Fox, and WBD on April 16 seeking answers on the impact the new service would have on competition and pricing. The owners were given two weeks from the letter's date to respond.[28] After receiving the owners' replies, Nadler and Castro sent a second letter on June 7, stating that these answers were "insufficient" regarding concerns about preventing collusion, ensuring consumer privacy, and methods to determine the service's pricing.[29]
On August 16, 2024, federal judge Margaret Garnett granted a preliminary injunction against Venu, blocking its launch while the FuboTV antitrust lawsuit continues, stating that the vMVPD is likely to succeed in proving its case that the venture will "substantially lessen competition and restrain trade".[30][31]
On January 6, 2025, Fubo announced it would merge with Disney's Hulu + Live TV vMVPD business, resulting in Disney receiving a 70% stake in the combined company, and that it had settled its litigation with Disney, WBD and Fox related to Venu.[32] However, DirecTV and Dish Network asked Judge Garnett to reconsider dismissing the case, stating that the antitrust issues remained unanswered and that they could still be harmed by Venu's competition.[33] On January 10, Disney, WBD and Fox announced that Venu would not launch, saying, "After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service."[1][34][35]
Disney said the following month that it had determined Venu would be "redundant" following the announcement of other skinny sports bundles from DirecTV, Comcast, and Fubo, and that it would instead focus on its planned "flagship" standalone streaming service, which it officially announced in May of that year.[36][37] Around the same time, Fox announced it would soon launch a direct-to-consumer streaming offering which would include Fox Sports content, later announced as Fox One.[38][39] For its part, WBD announced that it would continue to bundle TNT Sports content into Max's ad-free tiers, abandoning plans to move its sports offerings into an add-on subscription.[40] ESPN would also announce its "flagship" DTC service that launched in August 2025, the ESPN DTC also offers a bundle with the aforementioned Fox One.[41][42]
