Published: November 7, 2024

Fubo-Venu Sports Legal Battle Rages — Here’s the Latest

By Movieguide® Contributor

As the court battle between sports streamers Venu and Fubo continues, Fubo continues to claim that Venu has an “artificial advantage” that will destroy competitors.

Venu Sports was supposed to launch earlier this year, backed by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, but Fubo, another sports streamer, filed a lawsuit that temporarily halted Venu’s plans.

READ MORE: WHY A JUDGE BLOCKED INDUSTRY-CHANGING SPORTS STREAMING PACKAGE

Fubo recently filed another patent that argument Venu has “a built-in advantage: the exclusive right to distribute its commercially-critical syndicated sports content without having to pay for — and forces viewers to pay for – unwanted non-sports channels.”

The brief also claimed that Venu has an “artificial advantage” because it was structured “to avoid any such competition on merit.”

“Its artificial advantage will capture hundreds of thousands of subscribers and tens of millions of dollars from Fubo alone, driving Fubo into insolvency and destroying or harming other distributors,” it continued.

deadline reported in brief, writing: “Fubo’s 60-page response is based on emails and comments from executives at the three media companies. It highlights a de facto ‘non-compete’ agreement between them to refuse to make their networks available in any new setting outside of Venu for at least three years.”

“It also notes that the three companies control more than 50 percent of live sports rights in the U.S. (with NBCUniversal and Paramount Global notably absent), but cites executives who say an even larger market share closer to of 60% or even 75%”, the outlet continued.

If Fubo wins its lawsuit, it could mean big changes for its financial situation.

MSN reported that since its inception in 2015, “Fubo has yet to report a profit… At the preliminary hearing of the August injunction that led to the court’s freezing of Venu, the company’s lawyers and witnesses described the nine-year run of the company in red ink. normal for a startup and assured the court that assuming Venu is not allowed to live, Fubo will reach profitability in 2025.”