Fubo CEO Slams the New Disney-Fox-Warner Bros Streaming Service
One week after Fubo filed an antitrust lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox over their planned “sports-centric” streaming service, their CEO, David Gandler, has remained on the attack.
During the streamer’s Q4 2023 earnings call Friday, Fubo called the planned streaming service an “attempt to monopolize the sports streaming industry and eliminate competition.”
Disney/Fox/Comcast/Ringer illustration
Fubo’s anti-trust lawsuit alleges that the three companies have “engaged in a years-long campaign to block Fubo’s innovative sports-first streaming business, resulting in significant harm to both Fubo and consumers.”
What Fubo Wants
The company wants a federal judge to either allow Fubo to enjoin the joint venture or alternatively have restrictions that would foster economic parity imposed on the three companies. They are also seeking “substantial damages.”
Photo: Fubo
“Their proposed venture is, we believe, just the latest example of this sports cartel’s attempt to block and steal Fubo’s vision of what a sports-streaming bundle should look like, resulting in billions of dollars in damages to our business,” Gandler said on the earnings call. “We consider the defendants’ pernicious contractual terms and other anticompetitive practices borderline racketeering.”
“A Duel to the Death”
Later, when asked about the stakes, Gandler asserted that they were as high as possible.
“I think that this is a duel to the death. It has been when we started this company… We are fighting for the tens of billions of dollars that are wasted annually by consumers paying for the same content multiple times.”
Photo: Deadline
Fubo has long advertised itself as a sports-centric alternative to cable. With Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery now set to try to dominate that sphere, Fubo Gandler believes they are competing on an unfair playing field.
Photo: CNBC
“We are asking for an opportunity to compete fairly as a business and to offer consumers a streaming option that gives them the channels they want, and at a fair price,” Gandler said.
