The Walt Disney Company, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery have announced that they are canceling their planned Venu Sports streaming service abruptly shutting down a multi-billion joint venture that was legally troubled from minute one.
Venu Sports, the proposed virtual MVPD service from ESPN, FOX & Warner Bros. Discovery, will be discontinued
The collective decision by the three companies not to move forward with the contemplated joint venture is effective immediately
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According to a joint statement from the three media companies, the launch of Venu Sports has been scrapped, and the corporations would focus on "existing" means of sports viewing.
"After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service," the statement reads. "In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels. We are proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period."
Venu Sports was announced in February 2024 and was intended to unite the sports assets of Fox, WBD, and Disney-owned ESPN.
The platform, which had been slated to launch before the start of the NFL season in September, faced significant delays following an antitrust lawsuit filed by Fubo, a smaller internet TV bundler. Fubo contended that Venu would create an unfair, monopolistic stranglehold on the sports media market.
At the heart of the legal challenge was the combined dominance of Disney, Fox, and WBD, which control over 50% of all U.S. sports media rights and at least 60% of nationally broadcast sports rights.
This market concentration raised alarms about the potential for Venu to stifle competition, particularly for smaller, independent players like Fubo. The judge overseeing the case expressed concerns about the legality of such consolidation, further complicating the launch plans for Venu.
The decision to cancel Venu's launch blindsided many of its employees, who discovered the news late Thursday night, according to CNBC.
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Prior to the announcement, there had been a sense of optimism within the company. Just days earlier, Disney had reached a settlement with Fubo, agreeing to merge its Hulu+ Live TV service with Fubo, which was expected to resolve all legal issues surrounding Venu's rollout.
Now it seems that Disney, Fox, and WBD have chosen to abandon Venu altogether. While some fans may have been looking forward to the announced mega-streaming sports platform, it seems that the three companies just don't want to deal with the legalities of it anymore.
For more on streaming sports, head to Newsweek Sports.
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