A US judge temporarily blocks the launch of Venu Sports, the streaming service from Fox/WBD/Disney, a week before rollout, after Fubo filed an antitrust lawsuit
https://duck.haus/... @jsnell@zeppelin.flights : @joesteel Good call IMO - as a Fubo subscriber, I'd probable drop them for Venu, and that's entirely because Venu has illegally conspired to create new, skinny bundles they don't offer anywhere else—like to Fubo. Fubo was literally designed to be what Venu is, but without the participants financially invested. X: John Ourand / @ourand_puck : DirecTV on the Venu injunction: “We are pleased with the court decision and believe that it appropriately recognizes the potential harms of allowing major programmers to license their content to an affiliated distributor on more favorable terms than they license their content to Eriq Gardner / @eriqgardner : This is a ruling that going to impact lots of potential dealmaking in Corporate America, not just a sports streamer. @thedeskdotnet : Something interesting from the judge's order: As a condition of Fox, Disney/ESPN and WBD/TNT operating Venu Sports as a joint venture, all three are contractually prohibited from working with Paramount/CBS and Comcast/NBC on a similar sports streaming product! [image] David Gandler / @davidgandler : Today's ruling is a monumental victory for Fubo, the media industry, and the American consumer! We're fully committed to delivering the best sports streaming experience, free from unfair competition by media giants. And trust us—we're just getting started! 🫶🇺🇸 #FuboWins Joe Pompliano / @joepompliano : BREAKING: A federal judge has blocked the launch of Venu Sports — a new $43 per month sports-only streaming bundle from Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Fubo asked for a preliminary injunction based on anticompetitive concerns and they got it. Fubo's stock immediately jumped 23%. [image] Lee Hepner / @leehepner : 🚨 FuboTV has won its preliminary injunction against Project Raptor, the sports streaming joint venture between Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, and Fox. Court finds FuboTV is likely to succeed on claims that the JV would lessen competition and lock up the future of Live Pay TV. [image] Eriq Gardner / @eriqgardner : ESPN says it will appeal. Here's the full statement. [image] LinkedIn: Leah Nylen : A New York federal judge has blocked Fox-Disney-Warner Bros. from launching their news sports streaming service, Venu, granting a preliminary injunction to Fubo in an antitrust suit over the JV. … Forums: r/technology : Fox-Disney Sports Service Blocked by Judge in Win for Fubo TV See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Venu was conceived as a sports-focused offering from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, but Fubo challenged the venture’s content-licensing structure before it reached consumers. The injunction turned that planned launch into a test of whether major programmers could give an affiliated distributor terms unavailable to independent distributors.
The dispute’s later arc underscores the commercial stakes: Disney and Fubo ultimately reached a Hulu + Live TV/Fubo joint-venture agreement and Fubo dropped its case, while the partners later discontinued Venu.
First-order effects
- Fox, Disney/ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery cannot launch Venu while the preliminary injunction stands, delaying a new outlet for their sports programming.
- Fubo gains near-term protection from a potentially lower-cost rival bundle; its share-price jump reflects the immediate relief investors attached to that outcome.
Second-order effects
- The order puts pressure on the three programmers to defend or revise licensing practices that distributors such as Fubo and DirecTV argue favor an affiliated service.
- The restriction on pursuing a similar product with Paramount/CBS or Comcast/NBC limits the partners’ fallback routes, making existing distribution relationships more consequential.
Third-order effects
- If courts continue to scrutinize preferential programming terms, sports-streaming ventures may need to compete through broadly available licensing rather than exclusive affiliate advantages.
- The episode highlights bundle cannibalization: media owners seeking direct, narrower packages must balance that goal against the distributors that still carry and pay for their channels.
The trend: Sports-streaming strategy is shifting from simply unbundling channels toward managing the antitrust and distribution conflicts created when content owners also become distributors.