The Future of Venu Sports Looks Murky After Judge Sets October 2025 Trial Date for Fubo Lawsuit
U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Garnett has set an October 6, 2025, start date for Fubo’s antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery over the launch of Venu Sports.
Originally announced in February, Venu Sports was set to deliver a sports-centric streaming service that brought together stations owned by three of the biggest names in television.
The streamer is set to include Disney-owned ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, and the ABC broadcast network.
Photo: Disney
Warner Bros. Discovery, meanwhile, will contribute to TNT, TBS, and TruTV, while Fox will pitch in FS1, FS2, and the Big Ten Network.
Fubo Quickly Filed Suit
Just days after Venu was initially announced, the streaming company Fubo filed an antitrust lawsuit.
Photo: Fubo
In their filing, Fubo asserted that the partners had engaged in a years-long campaign to block Fubo’s sports-first streaming business. Additionally, Fubo said the three companies combined control more than half of the U.S. sports rights market and thus put other distributors at an extreme disadvantage.
The Launch of Venu Sports Was Blocked
In a stunning ruling, Judge Garnett sided with Fubo, ruling that the launch of Venu would “substantially lessen competition and restrain trade.”
Granting a temporary injunction, Garnett thus delayed the launch of the new streaming service.
Photo: Miriam-Webster
Following the ruling, the joint venture partners asked for an expedited process and a February start date for the trial, arguing that “time is of the essence.”
The Death Blow?
Today, however, Judge Garnett set a start date of October 6, 2025, perhaps dealing Venu a fatal blow.
Assuming the legal process plays out as planned, Venu Sports is unlikely to launch until late 2025. If that is the case, it is hard to see why the joint partners would even bother.
Photo: Venu
By the time Venu launches, ESPN will have already released its flagship streaming service, giving customers an unprecedented amount of sports content.
Between Warner Bros. Discovery losing its NBA rights and the upcoming ESPN flagship launch, the future of Venu Sports looks murky.
ESPN
With that being said, the joint venture partners have signaled that they will continue to fight for the streaming service. For now, then, Venu Sports is still in the pipeline.
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