How Disney, Fox and WBD Will Enter Sports Streaming Without Venu
By Movieguide® Contributor
Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) joint streaming platform Venu was officially killed at the beginning of the year, but these companies still plan on getting into sports streaming on their own.
The creation of Venu was canceled in January after a complaint filed to the FTC by rival Fubo blocked its launch last fall. Fubo, which has been operating in the sports streaming world for years, argued that these companies were creating a non-competitive platform by giving themselves a lionshare of the sports market. Facing the threat of a lengthy lawsuit with no clear winner, the platform was canceled. Instead, Disney purchased Fubo, putting and end to any future disputes.
This move gives Disney the easiest path forward as it plans to merge Fubo with Hulu+ Live TV, expanding the sports reach beyond that currently available on both platforms. Disney has also been working build out ESPN+, creating yet another avenue for it to compete in the sport streaming business.
The path forward for WBD in the sports streaming business is less clear than Disney’s, though it still has a viable option through Max. Since the cancelation of Venu, the company announced it will add its sports offerings to Max to subscribers at no extra charge. WBD own TNT, which has deals with the NBA, PGA Tour, NCAA and MLB.
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Meanwhile, Fox did not have an already established streaming service to fall back on. Nonetheless, it continues to get involved in the business, announcing it is launching a new streaming service with plans for it to hit the market later this year. The goal of the platform is to be a direct-to-consumer avenue for the content that has kept cable afloat for years, offering live news and sports at a fraction of the cost.
While the window to launch a successful streaming platform may seem like it has already passed, Fox is not trying to become the next Netflix. Rather it hopes to find value by bundling with other services instead of making a path as a standalone streamer. With little to offer outside of sports and news, the platform will also keep its price tag low to help entice subscribers.
Though the death of Venu means sport fans will no longer have a one-stop-shop for all their sport needs, the future of sports streaming looks bright as the content becomes evermore accessible.
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