• by Wayne Friedman , January 10, 2025

The sports-focused joint venture Venu Sports will not move ahead and launch as a new major streaming platform, according to a Friday statement released by its partners Walt Disney, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery.

“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,” a release from the companies said.

The statement did not provide details on the specific reasons for the decision to stop the rollout of the service.

The decision comes just after recent news that Disney would be buying a 70% stake in Fubo TV -- a sports-focused virtual pay TV provider that sued Disney, Fox, and WBD over the prospect of the joint venture’s intended launch.

Fubo viewed the platform as anticompetitive -- and as one that would break Federal antitrust regulations.

In conjunction with the announcement of the deal, Fubo said it would be ending its litigation.

Disney had agreed to pay $220M for the investment, as well as spin off its Hulu+Live TV virtual pay TV operation into Fubo, with Fubo continuing as a separate publicly traded company.

Other pay TV providers supported Fubo’s initial litigation.

Now, in response to the demise of Venu Sports, DirecTV said in a release: “DirecTV remains a leader in sports, and we look forward to working with our programming partners – including Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery – to compete on a level playing field to deliver sports fans more choice, control, and value all-in-one experience. ”

Venu Sports intended to amass massive sports content from major leagues under the partners existing deals with NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, and NHL -- 14 live sports and entertainment channels, including ESPN, TNT, TBS, ABC, Fox, and Fox Sports.