The streaming wars appear ready to enter the courtroom, as sports streaming platform FuboTV is suing Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery over their recently announced sports streaming service. FuboTV filed an antitrust lawsuit on Tuesday, Feb. 20, alleging the joint venture “will destroy competition and inflate prices for consumers.”
“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,” David Gandler, co-founder and CEO of FuboTV, said in a statement.
FuboTV alleges the defendants’ new joint venture is their latest move to eliminate competition and monopolize the sports streaming market.
The collaboration between the media giants aims to consolidate their sports assets, including the NFL, NBA, and FIFA, into a single streaming service set to launch this fall.
“The launch of this new streaming sports service is a significant moment for Disney and ESPN, a major win for sports fans, and an important step forward for the media business,” Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company said. “This means the full suite of ESPN channels will be available to consumers alongside the sports programming of other industry leaders as part of a differentiated sports-centric service.”