Fubo sued Disney, so Disney just bought Fubo

For months, sports streaming service Fubo has successfully stymied the launch of a rival streaming service jointly owned by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery. That battle ended today with Goliath buying David. Fubo and Disney Announce an agreement This would result in The Mickey Mouse Company gaining majority ownership over its sports broadcasting rival.

Under the terms of the deal, Hulu + Live TV, the Disney-owned cable-style live TV streaming company, will merge with Fubo to create a new company that will be led by Fubo co-founder and current CEO David Gandler. Hulu + Live TV and Fubo will continue to operate as separate services. Fubo will also receive a new carriage agreement with Disney that will allow it to launch a subscription service that will stream Disney’s massive lineup of sports networks including ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN+, SEC Network and ACC Network.

So what does Disney stand to gain from all this? Well, she should move forward with her plans to launch her own sports streaming service.

Earlier this year, the company announced plans with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery to roll out a streaming platform called Venu Sports that would bring together the syndicated sports-related streaming rights of companies into one platform. In theory, the platform will provide subscribers with access to the majority of nationally broadcast NBA, NHL and MLB games, as well as college football and basketball.

But Fubo managed to interfere with that plan. Back in April, it was An antitrust lawsuit was filed Companies participating in Venu Sports and Launched a public advocacy campaign Asking consumers to contact their representatives and urging them to prevent syndicated sports broadcasts from occurring. For Fubo, the situation was essentially a matter of life and death; It assumed (perhaps correctly) that it would not be able to compete with a platform owned by the same companies with which it must negotiate over streaming rights.

Now that opposition is over. Fubo has agreed to settle all lawsuits related to Venu Sports as part of its new deal with Disney. I got a pretty penny for that score too. Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. agreed. Discovery has agreed to pay Fubo a total of $220 million in exchange for ending its legal proceedings. Disney is also offering its new partner a $145 million loan to operate it. If the deal falls through for any reason, Fubo will receive a $130 million termination fee. Money talks, as it turns out.

Chances are good that the deal will go ahead, as it will under the Trump administration and President-elect Hu Signal already A more friendly attitude when it comes to mergers and acquisitions. However, you never know when he will try to prevent something out of personal spite rather than principle. It is said that Tried to prevent AT&T from buying Time Warner This is partly due to his personal distaste for CNN.

While the fate of Fino Sports remains unknown for now, its biggest hurdle – Fubo – is now out of the way, and its second biggest hurdle – the antitrust-minded Department of Justice – is on its way out. It’s all coming Disney.