The upcoming sports-streaming app Venu Sports may have come across another hurdle before its planned launch. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were joined by Rep. Joaquin Castro in a letter to the Department of Justice to investigate the Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery joint venture, which was first reported by The Athletic.
The trio wants the DOJ to investigate the proposed sports-first streaming service due to how much control it would have over the market and its detriment to competitors. From the letter:
This massive new sports streaming company would be poised to control more than 80% of nationally broadcast sports and more than half of all national sports content, putting it in a position to exercise monopoly power over televised sports. The market power of its three giant parent companies would enable it to discriminate against competitors and increase prices for consumers.
The direct-to-consumer sports streaming service will have a monthly price tag of $42.99 but the exact launch date hasn’t been released. Venu’s website says the app is coming fall of 2024, but if the DOJ decides to investigate this could be another roadblock before the launch.
Competitors, including Fubo, have concerns that Venu Sports will negatively impact them. Earlier this year, Fubo sued Disney, Fox, and WBD to block the launch of Venu Sports. When the lawsuit was announced, Fubo CEO David Gandler said, “This sports cartel blocked our playbook for many years and now they are effectively stealing it for themselves.” Gandler suggests that the joint venture between the trio would cause Fubo to lose 30% of its subscribers if Venu Sports is allowed to launch.
Venu Sports would feature the NFL, NBA, NHL, PGA Tour, MLB, and WNBA, among other leagues and events across 15 linear channels and ESPN+. Plus, subscribers would have modern technological features, including multi-view and DVR.
In the letter, the trio asks for the FCC to join the DOJ in the investigation to make sure the joint venture doesn’t violate antitrust laws, writing:
The FCC has broad authority to promote competition and protect against consolidation in media, including statutory duties to promote “vigorous economic competition, technological advancement, and promotion of the public interest, convenience, and necessity”40 and to ensure that proposed transactions will serve the “public interest, convenience, and necessity.
A key concern from Sanders, Warren, Castro, and the Fubo lawsuit is that Venu Sports competitors aren’t able to offer a slim package of channels that would only be available on the joint venture’s app. Instead, pay TV services like DIRECTV STREAM, Fubo, and Sling TV have to offer bundles with other networks from Disney, Fox, and WBD. In turn, that could give Venu Sports an advantage in the market since the trio owns the leagues’ media rights and sets pricing on the networks that carry them during negotiations.
Fubo’s lawsuit began earlier this week and a federal judge will decide if whether or not to block the Venu Sports launch by issuing a preliminary injunction.