Published: February 20, 2024 at 3:38 pm ET
FuboTV filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block a new sports streaming joint venture scheduled to debut this fall, claiming the ESPN-Warner Bros. Discovery-Fox giant would limit Fubo's options, a thin one Bundles of sports channels that the company plans to include.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks a jury trial and punitive damages against Walt Disney Co.'s DIS ESPN service, Fox Corp. FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. WBD.
The…
FuboTV filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block a new sports streaming joint venture scheduled to debut this fall, claiming the ESPN-Warner Bros. Discovery-Fox giant would limit Fubo's options, a thin one Bundles of sports channels that the company plans to include.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks a jury trial and punitive damages against Walt Disney Co.'s service
DIS
ESPN, Fox Corp.
FOX
and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.
WBD
.
The media giants behind the new streaming service, which may not be done adding broadcast partners, are “using their power over commercially critical sports content to force Fubo to air unwanted, expensive content that prevents Fubo from offering the sports-focused channel package.” “His customers want,” the lawsuit says.
“For decades, defendants have exploited their iron control over sports content to extort billions of dollars in supercompetitive profits from distributors and consumers,” FuboTV said
FUBO
,
It says it will be charged above-market prices and risks the company losing its content rights when the new venture launches. “Defendants derived much of these profits by 'bundling' their commercially important sports content with other, less desirable content – forcing sports fans to purchase channels they did not want.”
The new sports streaming service would carry 14 networks, including ESPN channels, ABC, TNT and TBS, as well as Fox's broadcast network and sports cable channel.
The new service is expected to impact Internet TV packages such as Fubo and Alphabet Inc
GOOGL
GOOG
YouTube TV, which costs less than cable TV but is expected to be more expensive than this new service. According to the Wall Street Journal, the new service could reach $50 per month. Fubo's English-language packages cost between $79.99 and $99.99 per month.
Since the announcement of the new venture on February 6, FuboTV's stock has suffered greatly, falling 37% for the year.
FuboTV, Disney, WBD and Fox were not immediately available for comment.
Comments are closed.