Credit: Jonathan G

Despite overcoming the biggest obstacle to the launch of its planned Venu Sports broadcasting service, the alliance of US media outlets behind the project have opted to jump ship.

Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Disney-owned ESPN announced that Venu Sports has been shelved despite a highly anticipated, although somewhat controversial, planned forthcoming launch.

The sports streaming service had been designed as a planned catch-all service to appeal to younger American sports consumers, many of whom prefer online streaming to the traditional avenues of television channels.

A statement issued by the three companies read: “After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service.

“In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels. We are proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period.”

Venu Sports’ coverage would have covered almost every major US sports event by combining the various sports media rights held by WBD, ESPN and Fox on one streaming platform.

All in all, the three broadcasters hold the rights to the majority of National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Hockey League (NHL) fixtures.

Major League Soccer (MLS), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), PGA Tour golf and ATP and WTA tennis, among other major tournaments, are also covered across the trio of networks and would find distribution on Venu.

This led to substantial concerns raised by smaller media outlets as well as by some US government and legislative officials. FuboTV was one of the most notable opponents, successfully winning a court block against the planned launch which was subsequently backed by the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

A letter signed by three Senators – former Democratic Party Presidential nominees Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren along with Joaquin Castro – also opposed the launch. The argument held by both media outlets and politicians was that the dominance Venu would gain over US sports would be anti-competitive.

Fubo’s legal opposition was subsequently dropped earlier this month when the company agreed to a merger with Disney’s Hulu + Live TV. This deal will see Fubo benefit from Disney-owned networks’ sports media rights.

However, two other private broadcasters, Echostar and DirecTV, subsequently complained about this development. Though Disney, WBD and Fox have not revealed why exactly Venu’s launch has been dropped, the prospect of future legal troubles may make the joint venture seem like more trouble than it is worth.

Previous articleWWE RAW debut on Netflix breaks multiple records with 4.9m views
Next articleRL Commercial and IMG re-launch improved ‘Our League’ app