Fubo had its court date yesterday in an attempt to prevent Venu Sports, a live TV streaming service, from debuting. In that session, David Gandler, the CEO of Fubo, stated that if the service is approved for debut, Fubo may lose thirty percent of its users.
Regarding their upcoming new streaming service, Warner Bros., Disney, and Fox are being sued by Fubo. The live streaming company Fubo is seeking to stop the joint venture and claims that three major media companies copied the playbook from Fubo. This new endeavor is the most recent effort in a protracted battle to obstruct Fubo’s operations.
Fubo is requesting that the rollout be postponed while the litigation is proceeding. After yesterday’s arguments from both sides, we are waiting on the judge’s decision in this matter.
Fubo statement in legal proceeding
“We continue to believe in the merits of our lawsuit,” Fubo stated in a statement regarding the case. “We thank those who have publicly supported us, such as DISH and DIRECTV.” Since, as we allege in our court filings, we believe the joint venture’s launch—a partnership to introduce a sports-only streaming service—controlled by these parties could cause irreversible harm to Fubo and consumers, we will continue to fight relentlessly to level the playing field in the sports streaming market.
Potential Impact on Subscriber
A victory for Fubo would be a significant boost for consumers, and we are heartened by the Court’s recent ruling to allow restricted discovery and schedule a hearing for our preliminary injunction motion for August 7, 2024. Additionally, the Court has indicated that it plans to make a decision prior to the JV’s launch date. Reports of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) continuing inquiry and legislative enquiries on the joint venture give us even more hope. We think that consumers should have options, reasonable prices, and cutting-edge products—all of which are only achievable in a market for streaming that is competitive. Our guidance 1 and our projected path to profitability do not account for any potential effects of the joint venture launch on our business, given the numerous unknowns surrounding the possible opening of the joint venture, such as the resolution of the litigation and the DOJ’s reported investigation.
We will now need to wait and see what transpires.