Venu Sports, a streaming service that was supposed to be launched by Disney’s ESPN (DIS), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), and Fox (FOXA), will no longer make its debut.
“After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service,” the three companies said in a joint statement on Friday.
“In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels.”
The news comes as FuboTV (FUBO), which filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the platform’s launch last year, settled all litigation related to Venu earlier this week. The settlement coincided with an announcement that Fubo, an internet TV bundler, would join forces with Disney’s Hulu + Live TV business.
Separately, Disney will roll out an ESPN flagship streaming service service this fall.
As of 11:56:40 AM EST. Market Open.
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Fubo stock initially popped around 10% early Friday before erasing gains. Shares had surged 250% Monday on the heels of the Disney deal announcement. Fox, WBD, and Disney shares all fell on the news.
Venu Sports was originally set to debut ahead of the 2024 NFL season but was held up in court due to Fubo’s antitrust complaint. And despite Fubo’s recent settlement, other pay-TV distributors like DirecTV (T, TPG) and Dish (SATS) had floated possible legal action in recent days — suggesting more regulatory hurdles could have pressured the launch.
Following the news, a DIRECTV spokesperson said in a statement the company “remains a leader in sports, and we look forward to working with our programming partners — including Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery — to compete on a level playing field to deliver sports fans more choice, control, and value all-in-one experience. ”
The three companies first announced the joint venture last year, with an expected price point of $42.99 a month. The service was set to bring together their respective slates of sports rights as media companies attempt to scale their streaming services and achieve profitability.
Last March, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch shrugged off regulatory concerns surrounding the service.
“When you look at the service, it’s pro-consumer, it’s pro-competition,” he said at the time. “It’s focused on a cohort of people in a segment [that’s] not served at all with sports content.”
Prior to Friday’s announcement, executives had estimated the service would have reached around 5 million subscribers by 2029 and that the opportunity lay in capturing the “cord cutters” and the “cord nevers.”