Venu Sports Will Be Discontinued as ESPN, FOX, and WBD Scrap Controversial Joint Streaming Venture ESPN, FOX, WBD cancel the planned joint venture to focus on existing products By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Friday, January 10, 2025 - 8:48 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In a surprise move on Friday morning, ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Venu Sports, their proposed virtual MVPD- service joint venture, will be discontinued. According to a joint statement, the collective decision by the three companies not to move forward with the contemplated joint venture is effective immediately.
After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service, the companies said in the statement. 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.
The announcement comes less than a week after another suprise announcement, when Disney agreed to combine its Hulu + Live TV streaming service with FuboTV to form a virtual-MVPD company. In conjunction with the deal, Fubo settled all litigation with Disney and ESPN related to Venu Sports, as well as with FOX and WBD.
However, shortly thereafter DirecTV and EchoStar's Dish asked a U.S. district judge to reconsider a dismissal of claims by Fubo TV against the Venu Sports streamer after the surprise merger. To potentially block the launch of Venu on completion of the proposed merger transaction, DirecTV and Dish on Jan. 7 wrote U.S. District Judge Garnett to raise a red flag over the dismissal of Fubo's claims against Venu and lifting the preliminary injunction on anti-competitive grounds.
The Venu Sports service was targeted at sports fans outside the traditional pay-TV bundle and was originally set to launch in the U.S. last fall at a price point of $42.99 per month. The service would have offered thousands of live events from all the major professional sports leagues and top college conferences. The streaming service offered access to 14 sports channels - ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV - and to ESPN+ and an expansive library of on-demand content and live studio shows from the companies' respective portfolios.
Former Apple and Hulu executive Pete Distad was installed as CEO of the company with offices in New York and Los Angeles. In addition, the leadership team comprised several seasoned executives, including Apple veteran Tony Billetter as its SVP of Strategy and Planning, former Los Angeles Rams CTO Skarpi Hedinsson as its CTO, and Amit Dudakia, former SVP of Product Management for Fox Technology & Digital, as SVP/Head of Product.
Friday's announcement appears to mark the final chapter in what has been a dramatic year-long saga for Venu Sports after it was first announced in February 2024.
More from Sports Video Group
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
28/05/2026
Hosted by ESPN Senior Writer Ryan McGee, the ceremony honored winners from athletic departments, conference offices, professional networks, production companies...
28/05/2026
Major rights-holders rolled out their 2026 college football slates today, offering a first look at marquee windows, kickoff partners, and conference distributio...
28/05/2026
The 4 Nations Face-Off, an international competition that launched in February 2...
28/05/2026
Soccer is a truly global sport, and, to match the U.S. viewing audience's in...
28/05/2026
The NFL Today, CBS Sports' top-of-the-line NFL studio show, has a storied hi...
28/05/2026
Prime Video is no stranger to innovation, and, within the realm of live streamin...
28/05/2026
The crack of the bat, the pop of the glove, and the cheer of the crowd: those are three prime examples of the glorious sounds fans hear on televised baseball ga...
28/05/2026
Every year, March Madness captivates the entire sports world. Nonstop action, un...
28/05/2026
NBA on NBC was an integral part to live sports production in the 1990s, and, when the league made these media rights available, NBC Sports saw an opportunity to...
28/05/2026
UmpCam is a technological wrinkle that has given fans unprecedented views of wha...
28/05/2026
T-Mobile and the United States Golf Association (USGA) announced a multi-year partnership, making T-Mobile the Official 5G Network Partner of the U.S. Women'...
27/05/2026
Telestream has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Benjamin Desbois as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Desbois, currently Teles...
27/05/2026
ESPN garnered 10 awards; NBC's Sunday Night Football received the Outstandin...
27/05/2026
Matrox Video is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of operations from its headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 1976, the company has...
27/05/2026
Major League Baseball has announced a series of initiatives tied to America's Semiquincentennial, including a national marketing campaign, Fourth of July br...
27/05/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced that Brian Gross has joined the company as an Account Manager on its Audio team, based in the Burbank office. He will...
27/05/2026
Nielsen has released new research on soccer fandom ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2...
27/05/2026
ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has unveiled a new partnership with TikTok to bring broad...
27/05/2026
FIFA's Oscar Sanchez gives a deeper look to how this tournament will be cove...
27/05/2026
The soon-to-be senior from Charlottesville is building her skills in replay, TD, and even creative content for HokieVision and its ACC Network productions
In t...
27/05/2026
FOX Sports' Mike Davies breaks down the vision for this summer's showcas...
27/05/2026
HBS's Paul King, FIFA's Oscar Sanchez preview how the masses at home wil...
27/05/2026
FOX's MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards...
27/05/2026
One of the most memorable Postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
27/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most decorated and most watched programs in the history of television. It added to its jam-packed trophy case on Tu...
27/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
27/05/2026
With the Opening Match just over two weeks away, the entire sports-production-te...
Venu Sports Will Be Discontinued as ESPN, FOX, and WBD Scrap Controversial Joint Streaming Venture ESPN, FOX, WBD cancel the planned joint venture to focus on existing products By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
