Earlier in February, Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery officially revealed their plans to jointly launch a new streaming service in the US that would include all of the content of the company"s sports-themed cable and streaming properties. Today, another online TV service, FuboTV, filed a lawsuit against this effort.
In a press release today (via CNBC), FuboTV alleged that Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery "have engaged in a years-long campaign to block Fubo"s innovative sports-first streaming business." Fubo claims the newly announced joint sports streaming service from those same companies "is the latest example of this campaign" and is an attempt to try to capture the entire sports streaming industry.
FuboTV was launched in 2015, and while it does offer access to local TV channels and other basic and paid cable TV networks, it has promoted itself as the best way to watch live sports online. The lawsuit says that Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery have forced Fubo to offer their non-sport channels as a condition for getting the sports cable stations from those sources.
The lawsuit also alleges that Fubo is charged between 30 to 50 percent higher licensing fees for channel content compared to other TV channel distributors. Fubo stated that it thinks it has lost billions of dollars in damages as a result of the actions of the defendant companies. Fubo has posted a PDF presentation for its side of this court case on its website.
David Gandler, the co-founder and CEO of FuboTV, is quoted as saying:
Simply put, this sports cartel blocked our playbook for many years and now they are effectively stealing it for themselves.
So far, none of the companies named in the lawsuit have commented on FuboTV"s statements. The joint sports streaming service, which does not yet have a name, is scheduled to launch later this fall.