Defendants’ Forthcoming Launch of Sports
Streaming Joint Venture Will Destroy Competition and Inflate Prices
for Consumers
Sports Cartel Blocks & Steals Fubo’s
Playbook
FuboTV Inc. (d/b/a/ Fubo) (NYSE: FUBO), the leading sports-first
live TV streaming platform, filed an antitrust lawsuit against The
Walt Disney Company, FOX Corp., Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. and
their affiliates today, alleging that the vertically-integrated
media companies have engaged in a years-long campaign to block
Fubo’s innovative sports-first streaming business resulting in
significant harm to both Fubo and consumers. The complaint alleges
that the forthcoming launch of a sports-streaming joint venture
steals Fubo’s playbook and is the latest example of this
campaign.
The Company claims that the Defendants have engaged in a
long-running pattern of stymying Fubo’s sports-first streaming
service by engaging in anti-competitive practices. Fubo was founded
nine years ago to offer consumers a sports-first package of live TV
streaming channels as a less expensive alternative to traditional
cable bundles. However, as described in the complaint, “For
decades, Defendants have leveraged their iron grip on sports
content to extract billions of dollars in supra-competitive
profits” by engaging in practices causing consumers to pay more for
highly popular sports content and resulting in significant damages
to both Fubo and its customers.
Fubo’s complaint describes the tactics the Defendants have taken
to prevent Fubo from competing fairly in the marketplace. Such
practices as outlined in Fubo’s legal papers include unfair
“bundling” - forcing Fubo to carry dozens of expensive non-sports
channels that Fubo’s customers do not want as a condition of
licensing the Defendants’ sports channels.
Other examples of anti-competitive behavior cited in the
complaint include the Defendants charging Fubo content licensing
rates that are as much as 30%-50%+ higher than rates they charge
other distributors. Defendants also impose non-market penetration
requirements (the percentage of total subscribers to which a
content package must be sold to or cannot exceed) on Fubo. These
actions individually and collectively increase the costs Fubo must
pass onto customers. Fubo believes it has incurred billions of
dollars in damages as a result of the Defendants’ actions.
Additionally, Fubo claims the Defendants have restricted Fubo
from offering compelling streaming products that consumers would
find desirable, despite similar products being offered by other
traditional pay TV and streaming services, including the
Defendants’ own Hulu service.
Fubo further alleges that the Defendants’ recently announced
joint venture is simply the latest coordinated step in the
Defendants’ campaign to eliminate competition in the sports-first
streaming market and capture this market for themselves.
The Defendants have locked arms to remove further competition,
according to Fubo’s complaint. Each Defendant is a media
conglomerate that owns critical sports content and, according to
the complaint, has individually engaged in anti-competitive
behavior against Fubo resulting in harm to consumers. Together, the
Defendants control more than half of the U.S. sports rights
market.1 By combining to license their must-have sports content on
a standalone basis to their own joint venture, other distributors,
including Fubo, would be at an extreme competitive disadvantage to
the detriment of millions of U.S. consumers, according to the
complaint.
David Gandler, Co-founder and CEO, Fubo commented:
“Each of these companies has consistently engaged in
anticompetitive practices that aim to monopolize the market, stifle
any form of competition, create higher pricing for subscribers and
cheat consumers from deserved choice. By joining together to
exclusively reserve the rights to distribute a specialized live
sports package, we believe these corporations are erecting
insurmountable barriers that will effectively block any new
competitors from entering the market. This strategy ensures that
consumers desiring a dedicated sports channel lineup are left with
no alternative but to subscribe to the Defendants’ joint
venture.
“We have previously collaborated with each of these companies so
that we could offer ‘must-have’ sports content to Fubo customers.
For many years, they have challenged our business at every
opportunity through pernicious practices. While other new
competitors were prevented from entering the market, Fubo has
continuously fought back. The Defendants’ unconscionable practices
have impacted our ability to grow and have deprived consumers of a
compelling and competitively-priced product.
“Simply put, this sports cartel blocked our playbook for many
years and now they are effectively stealing it for themselves.
“Silence is no longer an option. The fact that live sporting
events dominated television viewership in 2023, with 97 of the top
100 broadcasts, highlights the critical importance of sports in
entertainment and the necessity for its broad dissemination.
Reports that the Department of Justice intends to look into the
joint venture are encouraging, and it evidences the potential
negative and widespread impact this alliance will have.
“Fubo seeks equal treatment in terms of pricing and all relevant
conditions from these media giants to ensure we can compete fairly
for the benefit of consumers. Our customers deserve access to a
competitively priced offering with innovative features designed by
Fubo for an unparalleled sports viewing experience.”
In its complaint, Fubo seeks, among other things, to enjoin the
joint venture or, in the alternative, require the parties impose
restrictions on the Defendants in order to proceed, such as
economic parity of licensing terms and substantial damages from the
Defendants.
For more information on Fubo and the streaming landscape, please
refer to the company’s presentation on its Investor Relations
website.
About Fubo
With a global mission to aggregate the best in TV, including
premium sports, news and entertainment content, through a single
app, FuboTV Inc. (d/b/a Fubo) (NYSE: FUBO) aims to transcend the
industry’s current TV model. The company operates Fubo in the U.S.,
Canada and Spain and Molotov in France.
In the U.S., Fubo is a sports-first cable TV replacement product
that aggregates more than 300 live sports, news and entertainment
networks and is the only live TV streaming platform with every
Nielsen-rated sports channel (source: Nielsen Total Viewers, 2023).
Leveraging Fubo’s proprietary data and technology platform
optimized for live TV and sports viewership, subscribers can engage
with the content they are watching through an intuitive and
personalized streaming experience. Fubo has continuously pushed the
boundaries of live TV streaming. It was the first virtual MVPD to
launch 4K streaming and MultiView, which it did years ahead of its
peers, as well as Instant Headlines, a first-of-its-kind AI feature
that generates contextual news topics as they are reported live on
air.
Learn more at https://fubo.tv
Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements of FuboTV
Inc. (“Fubo”) that involve substantial risks and uncertainties,
including regarding the lawsuit described in this press release and
the impact of the defendants’ actions on Fubo and the media
industry. All statements contained in this press release that do
not relate to matters of historical fact are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our business
strategy and plans, expectations regarding profitability, growth
plans and prospects and market opportunity. Forward-looking
statements represent Fubo’s current expectations regarding future
events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
implied by the forward-looking statements. Among those risks and
uncertainties are market conditions and risks relating to Fubo’s
business, including those described in periodic reports that Fubo
files from time to time with the SEC. The forward-looking
statements included in this press release speak only as of the date
of this press release, and Fubo does not undertake to update the
statements included in this press release for subsequent
developments, except as may be required by law.
1 Warner, Fox, ESPN to Launch Streaming Sports Joint Venture
(variety.com)
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240220332523/en/
Investor Contacts Alison Sternberg, Fubo
asternberg@fubo.tv JCIR for Fubo ir@fubo.tv Media Contacts
Jennifer L. Press, Fubo jpress@fubo.tv Bianca Illion, Fubo
billion@fubo.tv
fuboTV (NYSE:FUBO)
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fuboTV (NYSE:FUBO)
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