A New York federal court has set an August 7 date for a preliminary injunction hearing tied to Fubo's antitrust lawsuit against Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, alleging their sports-streaming joint venture, informally known as “Spulu,” is anticompetitive.
Fubo has called the JV a “sports cartel,” and has loudly complained that the three media companies — in bundling their linear sports channels in a service expected to cost around $50 a month — are deploying bundling schemes they’ve resisted offering their pay TV partners for decades.
The case seems to have legs.
Also read: DirecTV and Dish Back Fubo in Its Spulu Antitrust Suit
Last week, the U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York court refused to grant the defendant’s request that the suit be tossed. And Fubo received support in the form of court declarations rendered by rival pay TV operators DirecTV and Dish Network.
Also, two Democratic House members wrote a letter to the CEOs of The Walt Disney Co., Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, asking more questions about their JV, while also expressing their “competition” concerns.
Disney, Fox and Warner said the JV, which still doesn’t have an official name, will launch this coming fall.
