 | |
| Type of business | Joint venture |
|---|---|
Type of site | OTT video streaming platform |
| Area served | United States |
| Owner |
|
| CEO | Pete Distad |
| URL | Archived official website at theWayback Machine (archive index) |
| Current status | Canceled |
Venu Sports, or simplyVenu (/ˈvɛnju/), was a proposedsports-focusedstreaming service in theUnited States, to be operated as a joint venture betweenESPN Inc. (a joint venture betweenThe Walt Disney Company andHearst Communications),Fox Corporation (through theFox Sports Media Group), andWarner Bros. Discovery (owner ofTNT Sports). Announced on February 6, 2024, it was originally scheduled to launch by the summer or fall of 2024, with each of the three partners owning one-third of the venture, subject to the negotiation of final contracts between them. On January 10, 2025, the companies announced Venu would not launch.
Venu sought tobundle the majority of U.S. national sports broadcast rights controlled by the three companies in a single subscription, with limited entertainment and news content. The service would have been available as a standalone product, or sold as part of a bundle with one of the companies' other streaming platforms likeDisney+,Hulu, orMax.
The joint venture partners said Venu would have been specifically targeted tocord-cutters and cord-nevers who were not active subscribers to either a traditional cable or satellite TV package, or an existing mainstreamvirtual MVPD such asFuboTV,YouTube TV, or Disney'sHulu + Live TV package.
On August 16, 2024, a federal judge granted apreliminary injunction to block the venture's launch after FuboTV filed an antitrust lawsuit against the partners. The lawsuit was settled in January 2025 as part of a planned merger of FuboTV with the Hulu + Live TV business, with Disney earning a 70% stake of the combined company. However,DirecTV andDish Network asked the court to reconsider the case, and later that month Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery decided to discontinue the Venu joint venture.[1]
The service was expected to function similarly to a virtual MVPD in that it would carry almost all of the three companies' English-language U.S. linear broadcast and cable channels that offer sports content, including local stations and affiliates of theABC andFox broadcast networks (subject to the participation of the affiliates' owners);[2] general sports channelsESPN,ESPN2,ESPNews,FS1, andFS2; college sports channelsACC Network,Big Ten Network,ESPNU, andSEC Network; and the three primary WBD cable networks that carry sports coverage:TBS,TNT, andTruTV.[3] It would have also included access to the content of Disney's existing direct-to-consumer sports serviceESPN+.[4]The streaming service was planned to provide access to the same sports events that werecurrently offered by the above-listed services, which as of February 2024[update] would have included the majority of national broadcasting rights toNBA,NHL, andMLB games, theCollege Football Playoff and almost allNCAA-organized championships, as well as selectNFL games, among many other properties.[5]However, the service would not have provided access to sports events controlled byregional sports networks (RSNs), third-party streaming services such asPrime Video andApple TV+, and other major traditional broadcasters, particularlyParamount Global (owner ofCBS andParamount+) andNBCUniversal, a subsidiary ofComcast (owner ofNBC andPeacock).[5] Moreover, Paramount and Comcast were not invited to participate in the venture.[4]
The companies have stated that all programming would be offered on a non-exclusive basis, as the channels and content would continue to be made available through existing television providers and/or the companies' respective standalone services.[6] In March 2024, an executive withNexstar Media Group said independent broadcasters who own ABC and Foxnetwork affiliates will be paid for distribution of their channels on the platform, which will be on an "opt-in" basis, suggesting some parts of the country might not have access to their ABC and/or Fox affiliate at launch.[2]
While subscribers would be able to watch any entertainment and news programming that regularly airs on these channels in addition to sports, the service would not carry other channels owned by these companies that are typically included in cable bundles, such asCNN orFox News.[7] However, in situations where sports broadcasts are carried by the companies' other channels, those channels may be carried temporarily as "pop-up channels", using a concept that is common in Europe but relatively rare in the United States.[8]
The initial announcement indicated the service would have a "new brand", though that brand was not identified immediately. Within the three companies, the project was initially known by the internalcode name "Raptor".[9]
In the absence of an announced name, several media analysts and news reports used the shorthand names "Hulu for Sports" and "Spulu", both alluding to general entertainment streaming serviceHulu and its original joint venture ownership structure.[10][11][12][13] At one point, the partners were reportedly considering making "Hulu Sports" the official name of the service, which would brand the service as an extension of Hulu (now controlled by Disney) despite having separate management.[8]
On May 16, 2024, the service's branding was announced as Venu Sports, or simply Venu.[14] "Venu" is pronounced like "venue" (as in asports venue).[15]
Venu was to be available individually through a new bespoke app, or as part of a bundle withDisney+,Hulu, and/orMax.[6] In May 2024, Disney and WBD separately announced plans to launch a bundle of the three latter services, but did not specifically address the possibility of a four-way bundle with Venu.[16]
Early reports indicated that the regular price per month would be higher thanUS$30, and likely at least $45, slotting it between the prices of some standalone regional sports streaming services likeNESN 360 (in the $20-$30 range) and larger cable-stylevMVPD packages like YouTube TV (which start at around $75).[4][5][17] On August 1, 2024, the launch price was announced as being $42.99 per month; this price would be guaranteed for twelve months from the start of a subscription, with no long term commitment required.[17][18]
The service was to be overseen by a separate management team at arms-length from the three partners.[5] On March 15, 2024, the partners announced that formerApple and Hulu executive Pete Distad would serve as the service's first CEO.[19] Additional executives were announced in June 2024, at which point Venu said there were already 150 executives andsoftware engineers working on the product, the majority of those being Fox employees expected to move to the joint venture once finalized.[20] A placeholder website for the service had likewise been launched in May under Fox ownership, through a subsidiary named Rookie Enterprises LLC.[21]
Following the initial announcement, the three companies involved stated that the formation of the joint venture would not affect their respective plans to compete with each other for sports broadcast rights going forward, nor would the joint-venture service seek any exclusive rights of its own.[5] Because of this, as well as the statement that all content will continue to be available through other platforms, many analysts initially indicated they did not expect the formation of the venture to raiseantitrust concerns.[22]
Nonetheless, shortly after the announcement, traditional cable and satellite providers were reportedly reviewing the plans as to whether they may violatemost favored nation clauses in existing contracts, unless the providers are allowed to also start offering lower-priced sports-focused packages. Analysts noted that some of these providers had been "begging for the right" to offer cheaper sports packages for years, but were blocked by programmers like Disney, Fox, and WBD, which had insisted that their sports channels be bundled with their other news and entertainment channels.[23]
The NFL was not informed about the service in advance of the February 2024 announcement, and shortly thereafter, media outlets reported the league was investigating whether it could block the service from carrying its games.[24]
The existing sports-focused vMVPDFuboTV also expressed concerns following the announcement about the venture's impact on "fair market competition".[22] On February 20, FuboTV filed an antitrust lawsuit in theU.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking either to block the venture entirely, or for the court to alternatively impose economic and licensing restrictions.[25] Satellite TV providersDirecTV andDish Network both filed briefs in support of Fubo's suit in April.[9] A subsequent letter to congressional leaders requesting hearings into the service was co-signed by all three providers as well as groups including theElectronic Frontier Foundation.[26]
TheUnited States Department of Justice also stated that it plans to review the terms of the joint venture once it is finalized.[27] Separately, Rep.Jerry Nadler, the ranking member of theUnited States House Committee on the Judiciary, and Rep.Joaquin Castro submitted a letter to Disney, Fox, and WBD on April 16 seeking answers on the impact the new service would have on competition and pricing. The owners were given two weeks from the letter's date to respond.[28] After receiving the owners' replies, Nadler and Castro sent a second letter on June 7, stating that these answers were "insufficient" regarding concerns about preventing collusion, ensuring consumer privacy, and methods to determine the service's pricing.[29]
On August 16, 2024, federal judgeMargaret Garnett granted a preliminary injunction against Venu, blocking its launch while the FuboTV antitrust lawsuit continues, stating that the vMVPD is likely to succeed in proving its case that the venture will "substantially lessen competition and restrain trade".[30][31]
On January 6, 2025, Fubo announced it would merge with Disney'sHulu + Live TV vMVPD business, resulting in Disney receiving a 70% stake in the combined company, and that it had settled its litigation with Disney, WBD and Fox related to Venu.[32] However,DirecTV andDish Network asked Judge Garnett to reconsider dismissing the case, stating that the antitrust issues remained unanswered and that they could still be harmed by Venu's competition.[33] On January 10, Disney, WBD and Fox announced that Venu would not launch, saying, "After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service."[1][34][35]
Disney said the following month that it had determined Venu would be "redundant" following the announcement of other skinny sports bundles from DirecTV, Comcast, and Fubo, and that it would instead focus on its planned "flagship" standalone streaming service, which it officially announced in May of that year.[36][37] Around the same time, Fox announced it would soon launch a direct-to-consumer streaming offering which would include Fox Sports content, later announced asFox One.[38][39] For its part, WBD announced that it would continue to bundle TNT Sports content into Max's ad-free tiers, abandoning plans to move its sports offerings into an add-on subscription.[40] ESPN would also announce its"flagship" DTC service that launched in August 2025, the ESPN DTC also offers a bundle with the aforementioned Fox One.[41][42]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Executives |  | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. networks |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| International |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Ventures | |||||||||||||||||||
| Defunct ventures |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Sports broadcasting rights | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other properties |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Notable personalities | |||||||||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||||||||||
Owners:Walt Disney Company (80%);Hearst Communications (20%) | |||||||||||||||||||
_Dec_2024.jpg){kind=icon}
.svg)