The launch of Venu Sports, a sports streaming platform, has been delayed by a federal judge on Friday amid an antitrust lawsuit.
A sports streaming venture by Fox, ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery was temporarily blocked by a federal judge on Friday.
The three media companies planned to launch Venu Sports, a sports streaming platform that would offer several networks, in the fall, but have hit a snag due to FuboTV. Each company would share one-third ownership of the streaming service.
Two weeks after the new sports streaming service was announced in February, FuboTV filed a lawsuit claiming that the anticipated streaming service violated antitrust laws. It said in the suit filed on February 20 that the joint venture would “destroy competition and inflate prices for consumers.”
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Margaret M. Garnett in the Southern District of New York granted FuboTV’s motion for a preliminary injunction, delaying the start of Venu Sports.
Garnett said in her ruling that FuboTV will likely be successful in proving its claim that the joint venture would “substantially lessen competition and restrain trade” and that FuboTV and consumers would “face irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.
