D.C. Memo: U.S. Judge Protects FuboTV from Likely Wipeout
D.C. Memo: U.S. Judge Protects FuboTV from Likely Wipeout
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Preliminary Injunction: FuboTV Inc. was spiking the ball in the end zone Friday after a federal judge in New York blocked the launch of the sports JV app by founders Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. "Fubo has made a clear showing that it will suffer imminent and irreparable injury if this Court does not enjoin the JV from launching until a full trial on the merits can be held," said U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett in a 69-page opinion and order that captured the conflicts and complexities of a pay-TV world in turmoil. Garnett concluded that the late August launch of the JV - called Venu Sports - would devastate Fubo, saying the online streamer would "lose approximately 300,000 to 400,000 (or nearly 30%) of its subscribers, suffer a significant decline in its ability to attract new subscribers, lose between $75 and $95 million in revenue, and be transformed into a penny stock awaiting delisting from the New York Stock Exchange, all before year-end 2024." Although Garnett's narrative was compelling, it was not without a quirk or two. For example, she cited as problematic that Venu Sports "will offer consumers an option to receive their must-have live sports content at a fraction of the cost of what current MVPDs and vMVPDs can offer." Apparently, targeting TV sports fans with lower prices violates antitrust law. Garnett also all but declared free TV irrelevant as a competitive force, even though 90% of NFL games -- the highest-rated TV programming in the U.S. -- were available to anyone with an antenna without charge. In a footnote that sidelined broadcasters, Garnett said, "Neilsen (sic) estimates that fewer than 20% of U.S. households have the ability to access free 'over the air' channels."
