Fubo’s antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is still set to move forward as a federal judge had ruled against the mega media companies’ latest bid for dismissal.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett officially denied the trio’s motion to have Fubo’s suit thrown out after making that decision verbally on Friday. The sports streamer previously accused Disney, Fox and WBD of structuring their joint venture Venu Sports in a way that would destroy any potential competition.
“As discussed on the record with the parties at the oral argument held on Dec. 13, 2024, Fox’s motion to sever claims and transfer venue is denied,” the judge explained in her decision, per a legal document obtained by TheWrap. The court now has just under a year to decide if there is enough evidence for a jury to decide on during a trial, or whether or not a trial is even worthy based on said evidence.
The update came after Fubo filed a 70-page document on Nov. 4 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, outlining how Disney, Fox and WBD control “critical and unique live televised sports programming” that they license to U.S.-based distributors. Fubo accused the three of having a “built-in advantage,” saying they would consolidate their “rights to more than half of all U.S. live televised sports content,” thus blocking out any other competitors in the space.
Back in August, Judge Garnett granted Fubo a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocked Venu from launching. The streamer would have featured 15 sports channels, and several networks, including ESPN, ESPN+, Fox, ABC, TNT and TBS. Each of the networks hold legal rights to the NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL, as well as the rights to professional college sports and professional tennis.
In that preliminary injunction, Garnett stated Fubo would’ve ultimately won its case against the group as its argument that Fox, WBD and Disney’s team-up would “substantially lessen competition and restrain trade.” She added that Fubo would’ve underwent a massive subscriber “exodus” if Venu went live this fall at the $42.99 price point, as initially planned.
Barring any changes, the four will head to court for a trial that’s scheduled to begin on Oct. 6, 2025.
