FuboTV Alleges Disney, Fox, WBD Joint Venture Will ‘Stifle’ Competition

Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have engaged in a “years-long campaign” to block FuboTV’s “sports-first” streaming business, resulting in “significant harm” to Fubo and consumers, said Fubo Tuesday of the antitrust complaint it filed in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan. The complaint (docket 1:24-mc-00070), which remained under seal Wednesday, alleges that the forthcoming launch of the companies’ sports-streaming joint venture “steals Fubo’s playbook and is the latest example of this campaign,” it said. “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,” said Fubo CEO David Gandler in a statement. “By joining together to exclusively reserve the rights to distribute a specialized live sports package, we believe these corporations are erecting insurmountable barriers that will effectively block any new competitors from entering the market.” The strategy ensures that consumers desiring a dedicated sports channel lineup “are left with no alternative but to subscribe” to the joint venture, it said. Disney, Fox and WBD didn’t comment.