The live sports streaming company FuboTV has launched an antitrust complaint against Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, and Fox, alleging that the three have been involved in “a years-long campaign” to hurt the company’s profits. The business will soon file a lawsuit. The sports streaming service, which will allow users to watch events from the networks they own, is set to debut in the fall of 2024 and will be owned by Disney and operated by ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. In its case, FuboTV claimed that the firms were copying its strategy and that the joint venture’s introduction would eliminate competition and drive up consumer prices.
The debut of the defendants’ streaming service, according to FuboTV, is merely “the latest coordinated step” in their “campaign to eliminate competition in the sports-first streaming market” and in their attempt to obstruct its operations. According to the streaming service, the defendants charge it between thirty and fifty percent more for content licensing than they do for other distributors. Additionally, as a condition of licensing their material, they allegedly require FuboTV to package “dozens of expensive non-sports channels” that “customers do not want” with their sports offers. The business claimed that FuboTV had to pass on all of these increased costs to its subscribers.
Additionally, FuboTV asserted that the aforementioned businesses were preventing it from providing its users with desirable streaming products, such as material that is accessible on Hulu. Furthermore, it is alleged that the defendants set a cap on the number of customers who can purchase their content bundle, preventing FuboTV from competing.
“Each of these companies has consistently engaged in anticompetitive practices that aim to monopolize the market, stifle any form of competition, create higher pricing for subscribers and cheat consumers from deserved choice,” David Gandler, CEO of FuboTV, said in a Through their joint venture to jointly hold the exclusive rights to offer a customized live sports package, we feel these companies are building impenetrable walls that will essentially keep any new competitors out of the market. This tactic makes sure that customers who want a portfolio of sports channels only have no choice except to subscribe to the Defendants’ joint venture.”
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All three defendants have been contacted by Engadget; ESPN has declined to comment, and Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have not responded as of yet. FuboTV is requesting that the court forbid the joint venture’s formation or place limitations on the defendants, such as equal economic terms for licensing.
