US TV carrier DirecTV has released a statement questioning the recent dismissal of legal proceedings against Venu Sports, the joint venture sports streaming platform planned by ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which has come after Disney purchased the streaming service (FuboTV) that filed the suit in February 2024.
DirecTV, alongside fellow TV firm EchoStar, argued in a letter to Judge Margaret M. Garrett of the District Court for the Southern District of New York that the dismissal of the case, requested by Fubo following its purchase, does "nothing to resolve the underlying antitrust violations the Court and DOJ have correctly identified.
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“Rather, it is a form of evading judicial review of the anticompetitive actions of Venu and its shareholders at the collective expense of fans, public institutions, leagues, conferences, teams, and players.”
In effect, DirecTV asked Garrett not to dimiss the case or “vacate any prior rulings”, stating that Disney is looking to “pay off and seek to subsume the very competitor that raised these antitrust violations to the Court.”
Disney announced its purchase of Fubo earlier this week (January 6), and announced its intention to combine the sports-focused offering with its Hulu + Live TV business.
Fubo had long been a critic of Venu Sports and after that lawsuit was filed, the streamer was successful in securing an injunction against Venu Sports’ launch, much to the chagrin of the representatives of the three media giants (a WBD representative did claim in court that the injunction would “terminate” the joint venture altogether).
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By GlobalDataGarnett, the judge that approved the injunction, at the time upheld Fubo’s claims that the joint venture, which would house over 50% of all US sports rights on one service, would lessen competition, limit consumer choice, enable price gouging, and impinge on the ability of Venu’s rivals to do business competitively.
DirecTV continued in its letter: “This settlement clears the path for Venu to launch unencumbered by removing the injunction the Court imposed to preliminarily prevent the immediate and irreparable harms the JV launch presents.
In May, Fubo and DirecTV co-signed a letter to US politicians demanding hearings into the future of pay-TV sports competition in the country.
The letter called on members of Congress from the Senate Commerce Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee, to hold hearings about pay-TV competitiveness.
DirecTV has also had its own issues with Disney, including a contract dispute with the media giant that resulted in a two-week blackout of Disney-owned networks on DirecTV services.
The pair each blamed the other for the blackout, with ESPN claiming any renewals had to be on its terms, while DirecTV accused the media giant of attempting to strongarm it into an anti-competitive and anti-consumer deal.
On September 10, DirecTV filed a complaint against Disney with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), accusing it of negotiating in bad faith.
In its 10-page complaint to the FCC, first obtained by the Associated Press, DirecTV said that Disney has been violating the FCC’s good faith mandates by asking it to waive any legal claims on any anticompetitive actions, including its ongoing packaging and minimum penetration demands.
