Lawsuit Alleges Fubo Claims that ESPN, Fox, Discovery Apps would Harm Competition and Increase Prices
Fubo lawsuit overview:
- Who: Sports-focused streaming service Fubo has filed an antitrust lawsuit against The Walt Disney Co., Fox Corp., Warner Brothers Discovery Inc. and their affiliates.
- Why: The company’s announced joint sports streaming venture copies Fubo’s idea while blocking Fubo, the company claims.
- Where: The ESPN lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York.
A new Fubo lawsuit charges that an upcoming sports streaming app from ESPN, Fox, Discovery and more would further create an unfair marketplace for watching sports.
Fubo, a sports-focused streaming service, has been subject to anticompetitive practices from the sports broadcasting companies since its 2015 launch, the company claims in the lawsuit.
Some of those practices include forced bundling of expensive non-sports channels that Fubo customers don’t want and charging Fubo 30% to 50% higher licensing rates than other distributors.
“Each of these companies has consistently engaged in anticompetitive practices that aim to monopolize the market, stifle any form of competition, create higher pricing for subscribers and cheat consumers from deserved choice,” Fubo CEO David Gandler said in a statement regarding the lawsuit.
Gandler went on to allege that the companies are creating insurmountable barriers to block new competing sports streamers from entering the market.
“This strategy ensures that consumers desiring a dedicated sports channel lineup are left with no alternative but to subscribe to the defendants’ joint venture,” he said.
Fubo lawsuit: Department of Justice plans to investigate joint streaming app
Gandler claimed sports broadcasters have challenged Fubo for years, and the announcement of the joint sports streaming app to directly block Fubo left the company with little option but to fight in the lawsuit.
“The fact that live sporting events dominated television viewership in 2023, with 97 of the top 100 broadcasts, highlights the critical importance of sports in entertainment and the necessity for its broad dissemination,” he said. “Reports that the Department of Justice intends to look into the joint venture are encouraging, and it evidences the potential negative and widespread impact this alliance will have.”
Fubo is facing a class action lawsuit claiming it knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully discloses its users’ personally identifiable information to unauthorized third parties.
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The plaintiff is represented by Mark C. Hansen, Evan T. Leo, Kevin J. Miller, Joseph S. Hall, Thomas G. Schultz and Joshua Hafenbrack of Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel and Frederick PLLC.
The Fubo lawsuit is FuboTV, et al. v. The Walt Disney Co., et al., Case No. 1:24-mc-00070, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.