A federal judge temporarily blocked the launch of Venu Sports Friday on antitrust grounds. The decision comes a week before the sports-only streaming service was reportedly set to debut in advance of the NFL season.
Venu—a joint venture from Disney's ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros.—planned to charge subscribers $42.99 per month for access to 15 live sports channels. Offerings are set to include the companies' entire sports portfolios, including professional football, basketball, hockey, and tennis, as well as college football and basketball. Each company had agreed to one-third ownership of the platform, which sought to secure 5 million customers in five years.
The judge's ruling sided with competitor streaming service FuboTV, which accused Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. of creating a monopoly to drive up prices—an argument supported by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Venu plans to appeal the ruling.
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