Adds details from settlement throughout
Fubo settles litigation with Disney, Fox, Warner Bros
Judge's injunction had temporarily barred Venu launch
By Dawn Chmielewski, Mike Scarcella
Jan 6 (Reuters) - Streaming service FuboTV FUBO.N said on Monday it has agreed to end litigation against the three major media companies behind the live sports app Venu Sports after Walt Disney Co DIS.N announced it would merge its Hulu + Live TV business with Fubo.
Disney, Fox FOXA.O and Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O had been set to argue before the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday that a judge's decision to block Venu's launch improperly denied consumers access to a new, lower-cost service. The service was designed to appeal to price-conscious sports fans.
Fubofiled its suit in February 2024, saying Venu would violate U.S. antitrust law by reducing competition and driving up prices.
In a joint filing, Fubo said it was voluntarily dismissing its underlying lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan. Disney, Fox and Warner Bros dismissed their appeal.
Fubo in a statement on Monday said it has settled all litigation with Disney and ESPN related to Venu, and also settled all litigation with Fox and Warner Bros Discovery.
Disney said on Monday that it would combine its Hulu + Live TV business with Fubo. The deal would create the second-biggest internet pay-TV company in North America, behind YouTube TV, with around $6 billion in revenue and 6.2 million subscribers.
A judge ruled in August that Fubo was likely to succeed on its antitrust claims, and issued the injunction temporarily barring Venu’s launch.
In their appeal, Disney, Warner Bros and Fox said blocking Venu would decrease consumer choice and deny lower prices to consumers "all with the effect of shielding Fubo from competition."
The U.S. Justice Department, New York, Illinois, California and other states in November urged the 2nd Circuit to uphold the preliminary injunction. Florida and five other states had asked the 2nd Circuit to reject the injunction.
Disney's Hulu + Live TV business to combine with Fubo, clearing way for Venu Sports ID:nL4N3O20S0
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles and Mike Scarcella in Washington; Editing by David Bario, Nia Williams and Will Dunham)
((Dawn.Chmielewski@thomsonreuters.com;))
免責聲明：投資有風險，本文並非投資建議，以上內容不應被視為任何金融產品的購買或出售要約、建議或邀請，作者或其他用戶的任何相關討論、評論或帖子也不應被視為此類內容。本文僅供一般參考，不考慮您的個人投資目標、財務狀況或需求。TTM對信息的準確性和完整性不承擔任何責任或保證，投資者應自行研究並在投資前尋求專業建議。