Sling TV has filed federal antitrust and breach of contract counterclaims against Disney, alleging that Disney is stifling competition through its acquisition of Fubo.
Filed late on Friday, January 2, the counterclaim is in response to Disney’s lawsuit against Sling’s parent company, Dish. That lawsuit claimed that Sling’s short-term subscription packages included Disney-owned channels without permission. A judge denied Disney’s request to stop Sling from offering daily and weekend passes.
Sling launched the passes on August 12, 2025. An “industry-first,” the passes give customers full access to Sling’s channel lineup for as little as a day and up to a full week, with prices starting at $4.99. The Day Pass, Weekend Pass, and Week Pass rolled out just as football season was starting, giving cord cutters an option to tune in just for one game. Disney says they breached contractual obligations, as the streaming service launched the new offerings without consulting channel providers.
In Fridays filing, Sling starts by admitting to launching the short-term passes without consulting Disney, but says there was no obligation to do so. The company also admits to inaccurately using the phrase “with no subscription” in marketing material for the passes. DISH and Sling then go on to deny the allegations in Disney’s lawsuit.
The counterclaim alleges that Disney is breaching its own contracts, claiming that Disney gave competitors favorable terms but refused to extend those same terms to DISH and Sling. Disney, Sling claims, has “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) clauses in its carriage agreements that require Disney to offer fair terms.
Sling believes that Disney is violating the Sherman Act by demanding that services offering ESPN must also include “low-value channels” in streaming packages. Sling says that customers aren’t interested in those channels and that being forced to include them raises prices and blocks the service from offering affordable pricing options. Another alleged violation of the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, according to Sling, was the ESPN and Fox One bundle, as well as the acquisition of the sports-first streaming service Fubo. Sling says that Disney buying the competitor “effectively hoards consumer-friendly sports options for itself and blocks alternative skinny bundles.”
Sling is also accusing Disney of attempted monopolization by “attempting to corner the Skinny Sports Bundle Market.” By acquiring Fubo and launching ESPN Unlimited, Sling says that Disney is aiming to be the only provider of flexible sports packages and prevents competitors from offering affordable alternatives.