Fubo’s lawsuit against Disney, Fox and WBD halted the launch of Venu Sports after a federal judge ruled it could harm competition in the live-sports streaming market.
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In what reads like a high-stakes streaming war drama, FuboTV’s legal assault on a planned sports streaming rival has turned into a business handshake with one of the very companies it sued. The closing of the merger between FuboTV, Inc. (Fubo) and Disney’s Hulu + Live TV represents a turnabout in a saga that started with litigation related to the proposed Venu Sports platform, and has ended with a business combination that has the potential to redefine the competitive landscape of live TV streaming.
The Legal Battle Begins: FuboTV vs. Venu Sports
The saga began in early 2024 when FuboTV, a sports-focused live-streaming platform, filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) seeking to block the launch of a new joint venture called Venu Sports, which Fubo argued would dominate the live sports marketplace and squeeze out independent competitors in a manner that violated anti-trust laws.
Venu was an ambitious proposition. It promised a slim, sports-only streaming package that offered access to ESPN, ABC, and select major league and college sports via media rights held by Fox and WBD. For Fubo, Venu would not be just another streaming service — it would be a potentially existential threat. In court filings, Fubo argued that Venu would quash competition, restrict consumer choice, and directly have a materially damaging impact on its business.
A Judge Sides With Fubo — at Least Temporarily
In August 2024, a U.S. District Court in Manhattan delivered a blow to Venu’s plans when it granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Fubo, effectively blocking the launch of service. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett sided with Fubo in agreeing that Venu could “substantially lessen competition and restrain trade.” For Fubo, the preliminary injunction was more than a legal win. Rather, it was a validation of its core argument that Venu was an effort on the part of Disney, Fox and WBD to build a sports streaming cartel.
In response to the preliminary injunction, Fubo CEO David Gandler proclaimed that the injunction safeguarded consumer choice and secured Fubo’s right to exist in the crowded vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributor) marketplace.
The Turn Toward Negotiation
Ultimately, the courtroom victory was not the endgame for either Fubo or Disney. Perhaps motivated by regulatory scrutiny, shareholder concerns, and high projected operating costs for Venu, Disney pursued settlement with Fubo. As a result, on January 6, 2025, Disney and Fubo announced plans to merge FuboTV with Hulu + Live TV, a move that effectively marked the end of the planned launch of Venu. Under the terms of the deal:
• Disney would own 70% of a newly formed entity that would own both platforms, with Fubo’s leadership team running the operations of both Fubo and Hulu + Live TV(which would technically remain separate platforms from a consumer-facing perspective).
• Disney agreed to make a $220 million cash payment and extend a $145 million term loan to Fubo.
• Fubo agreed to drop its lawsuit against Disney, Fox, and WBD
After the announcement by Disney and Fubo of their intention to merge Fubo with Hulu + Live TV, on January 10, 2025, Disney, Fox and WBD announced that they would no longer pursue the launch of Venu Sports.
Beyond the Lawsuit: A New Horizon for Live Broadcasts on Streaming
The dispute evolved into a settlement as Disney and Fubo agreed to merge FuboTV with Hulu + Live TV, creating a combined platform of roughly 6.2 million subscribers.
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The merger between Fubo and Hulu + Live TV represents a potentially significant realignment of the landscape for live broadcasts via streaming. The subscriber base for the combined platform is estimated at 6.2 million. As part of the deal, Fubo obtained a new sports-and-broadcast bundle including a full range of ESPN content. For Fubo, the merger with Hulu + Live TV mitigated the risks associated with operating a standalone model that had proven increasingly costly in a streaming world where securing rights is expensive and competition is fierce. By falling under the Disney umbrella, Fubo gains financial stability, stronger content partnerships, and operational scale, while preserving its identity under the public Fubo brand.
For its part, Hulu + Live TV benefits from Fubo’s expertise in sports distribution, leveraging its existing infrastructure and know-how for streaming live events. For Disney, the merger represents additional scale by combining the two live broadcast services in a manner that helps them better compete against other major live broadcast streamers, such as Amazon Prime, Peacock, and Paramount+, and ultimately distributing its accumulated sports rights more efficiently via streaming.
What Comes Next: Strength, Consolidation, Risk
Now that the Fubo and Hulu + Live TV merger has closed, both Disney and Fubo are betting on the benefits of the combined scale of the two platforms. Essentially, they represent a streamlined live-TV engine combining traditional programming, sports, and streaming in a manner they hope will yield cost savings. At the same time, as with all mergers, integration complications may create challenges. For example, while both services will remain separate in the short run, aligning technology, operations, and negotiating content deals will be complex. Longer term, retaining the most attractive sports broadcast rights may be challenging because of rapidly rising costs of sports media rights. Because of those rising costs, even if Disney manages to retain those media rights, doing so in a manner that drives profitability to Fubo and Hulu + Live TV may prove difficult.
Why Does All of This Matter?
The Fubo and Hulu + Live TV transaction is more than just another media merger. It underscores how streaming-native companies are increasingly combining with legacy media players to compete at scale. Rather than fighting in isolation, companies like Fubo are choosing strategic alliances, even if they are joining forces with companies that they once viewed as adversaries.
The deal signals a new era of consolidation in live streaming, boosting Disney’s scale, expanding Fubo’s sports rights, and reshaping how major media companies compete.
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For Disney, the opportunity to acquire Fubo was likely a no-brainer. Facing challenges from well-capitalized streaming competitors like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, the move to combine Fubo and Hulu + Live TV gives Disney a robust, sports-focused distribution vehicle that complements its existing portfolio of ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+. For Fubo, the opportunity to partner with Disney was also likely a very easy decision. Fubo’s long-term prospects as a standalone offering were cloudy, at best. The merger with Hulu + Live TV offered Fubo a much clearer path to survival and relevance in an environment where skyrocketing media rights and customer acquisition costs created mounting pressures.
For consumers, the combination of Fubo and Hulu + Live TV could translate into richer live streaming offerings: more sports, more choice, and potentially a more affordable bundle, although that promise comes with the risk that further consolidation could result in fewer, more powerful players in the streaming marketplace.