Streaming service FuboTV has filed an antitrust lawsuit against ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery and Hulu, which plans to launch a sports streaming venture in the fall.
The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York. FuboTV, which focuses primarily on live sports, is seeking a jury trial.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the lawsuit.
“Each of these companies has consistently engaged in anticompetitive practices designed to monopolize the market, stifle any form of competition, create higher prices for subscribers, and defraud consumers of a well-deserved choice,” said David Gandler, co-founder and CEO of FuboTV. “Simply put, this sports cartel has blocked our playbook for years and now they are essentially stealing it for themselves.”
ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery and Hulu declined to comment on the lawsuit.
FuboTV says in its filing that it has been trying to offer a sports-only streaming service for years, but has been unable to do so because of ESPN. Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have imposed bundling requirements on FuboTV, which the company says will force Fubo to spend hundreds of millions of dollars licensing and broadcasting content its customers don’t want or need.
“Faced with the threat of disruptive competition from Fubo and other new entrants, Defendants responded by locking up arms (and locking out others) to steal Fubo’s core business idea – a sports-focused suite of channels – while preventing Fubo from doing the same package to offer. the company said in its lawsuit.
ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery and Hulu announced their plans to offer a sports streaming service on February 6. The three companies will each share a third of the ownership in the joint venture. A name for the service and pricing will be announced at a later date.
FuboTV not only wants the proposed joint venture closed, but is also seeking monetary damages. If the court does not do this, FuboTV will demand restrictions on the joint venture so that competition on the market continues.
FuboTV was founded in 2015. In its most recent quarterly filing last November, the company reported 1.48 million paying subscribers in North America for the third quarter, a record high for the company.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports