Published on: February 22, 2024
Fubo has lodged a lawsuit on antitrust grounds against ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Hulu, who are set to debut a new sports-streaming service in the fall.
The announcement of the upcoming service was made earlier this month. This platform will operate under a completely brand new name and feature a wide range of sports, including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey, covering both national and collegiate levels.
By aggregating sports content from multiple providers into a single app, this service aims to revolutionize the sports broadcasting industry. Fubo filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York and is seeking a jury trial.
The company alleges in the court filings that its efforts to create a sports-focused streaming platform have been thwarted for years by ESPN. The company claims that Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have enforced bundling agreements that compel Fubo to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars for the licensing and broadcasting of content its subscribers neither want nor require.
“Faced with the threat of disruptive competition from Fubo and other upstarts, Defendants have responded by locking arms (and locking others out) to steal Fubo’s core business idea — a sports-centric package of channels — while blocking Fubo from offering that same package,” the court filing reads.
Fubo’s goals extend beyond just stopping the planned joint venture; the company is also seeking financial damages. If the court doesn’t agree to either action, Fubo is asking for rules to be put in place to make sure the joint venture doesn’t harm market competition.
“Each of these companies has consistently engaged in anti-competitive 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, Co-founder and CEO of Fubo, said in a statement. “Simply put, this sports cartel blocked our playbook for many years and now they are effectively stealing it for themselves.”