By Lauren Thomas and Isabella Simonetti
Disney is close to a deal that will combine Hulu + Live TV with sports streaming service FuboTV, which plans to drop its litigation against the formation of Venu Sports.
A deal is expected to be announced Monday morning, according to people familiar with the situation. Bloomberg earlier reported on the news.
Fubo shares soared more than 30% Monday morning in premarket trading. The company had a market value of about $480 million as of Friday.
In February 2024, Fubo sued to block the launch of Venu Sports, a joint streaming venture between Disney's ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corp., alleging the companies wouldn't let Fubo carry a small bundle of sports-focused channels that they were looking to include in the new service. Fox and The Wall Street Journal's parent, News Corp, share common ownership.
In August, a judge blocked the launch of the service, saying it would "substantially lessen competition and restrain trade." Venu's three partners appealed the decision.
Venu announced in August that it would be available at $42.99 a month and carry some of the most valuable sports properties including the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, National Football League and college teams. That price tag is significantly cheaper than the traditional cable bundle, which can run north of $100 a month. ESPN plans to launch its own direct-to-consumer product later this year.
Updates to follow as news develops
--Jessica Toonkel contributed to this article.
Write to Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com and Isabella Simonetti at isabella.simonetti@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 06, 2025 08:37 ET (13:37 GMT)
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