Venu Sports Streaming Service Will Not Move Forward

ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox will not be launching its joint streaming venture, Venu Sports, the companies shared on Friday. The news comes days after Fubo and Disney-owned Hulu announced the merging of their live TV streaming businesses. The sports streaming service was originally set to launch in fall 2024, but a judge granted Fubo's request to issue an injunction to block Venu's rollout as part of its antitrust lawsuit.

"After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service. In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels. We are proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period," the companies said in a joint statement.

On Monday, Disney and Fubo announced that their live TV streaming services would combine under the Fubo brand name, with Disney as the majority stakeholder of the newly formed outfit. As part of the deal, Warner Bros., Fox and Disney agreed to pay Fubo, and all litigation has been ended. But on Thursday, rival companies DirecTV and EchoStar (Dish Network's corporate parent) challenged the pending deal in letters to US District Judge Margaret M. Garnett, the judge who issued the injunction against Venu last year.

"Defendants have paid Plaintiff to ensure cooperation from an aggrieved competitor, but the settlement does nothing to resolve the underlying antitrust violations at issue," an attorney for DirecTV wrote. Counsel for both EchoStar and DirecTV raised concerns about the joint venture being able to proceed without any legal ramifications due to the settlement, and asked the court to reconsider its position to prevent "harm to competition."

Though Venu Sports will not move forward, Fubo plans to roll out a new sports service that will include programming from Disney networks such as ABC, ESPN, SECN, ACCN and ESPN Plus as part of the new merger agreement.