Judge Blocks Joint Streaming Bid By Fox, ESPN, And Warner Bros

The launch of Venu Sports will be delayed after a federal judge granted FuboTV’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the planned sports streaming venture by ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery, Joe Reedy reported for the Associated Press (AP).

FuboTV filed the lawsuit two weeks after ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Hulu announced their plan to offer a sports streaming service on February 6. I Photo: Algorhythm Labs Flickr

U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) said in her 69-page ruling that Fubo was likely to be successful in proving during a trial that the joint venture would violate antitrust laws and that Fubo and consumers would “face irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.” ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery said they would appeal the ruling.

FuboTV filed the lawsuit two weeks after ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Hulu announced their plan to offer a sports streaming service on February 6.

FuboTV stated in its filing that it has tried for years to offer a sports-only streaming service but has been prevented from doing so because ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery have imposed bundling requirements on FuboTV, which it says forces “Fubo to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to license and broadcast content that its customers do not want or need.”