Sports Streaming Service By Disney, Fox and Discovery Channel Named Venu Sports
First announced on February 06, the sports streaming service combines Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery is moving forward, with the company disclosing the name of the joint venture, Venu Sports. The platform will offer subscribers sports content from all three companies and will launch this fall in the U.S. The direct-to-consumer service includes content from all college and professional sports leagues.
In the latest announcement, the trio of firms behind Venu Sports expressed excitement alongside revealing the key details about the upcoming project. The official blog post published by Walt Disney also uncovered the joint venture’s official logo. While speaking on the celebration of the new streaming service, Pete Distad, CEO at Venu Sports, noted in a statement;
We are excited to officially introduce Venu Sports, a brand that we feel captures the spirit of an all-new streaming home where sports fans outside of the traditional pay TV eco-system can experience an incredible collection of live sports, all in one place,
He continued;
As preparations for the platform continue to accelerate, we are singularly focused on delivering a best-in-class product for our target audience, built from the ground up using the latest technologies to engage and entertain discerning sports fans wanting one-stop access to live games.
The new sports bundle, with a broad portfolio of collegiate and sports rights, intends to woo younger audiences not interested in cable TV. The National Football League and the National Basketball Association are among the significant sports events for which Venu Sports has acquired the rights alongside the FIFA World Cup.
Venu Sports’ Success Remains Unpredictable
The joint venture doesn’t mark the greater success at the time as it still lacks featuring a few over-the-top sports programs such as Premier League soccer and NBC’s Sunday Night Football. However, users will sign up for Venue Sports via a new app and can bundle the service with Hulu, Max, and Disney+ as per their choice.
Another key factor in the project’s success is the pricing. Though Venue Sports’ subscription charges have not been officially disclosed, Wall Street estimates the monthly subscription price for the service at $40-$50. Moreover, speaking on the venture’s growth, Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox, stated that the service is expected to have 5 million followers in its first five years.
The sports streaming service comes with its website, Venu.com. Now, all that remains to launch the service is the regulatory approval and definitive agreements between the trio firms.
Interestingly, the joint venture doesn’t seem to win regulatory approval easily, considering the critics that arose recently. For instance, two congressional Democrats expressed concerns over the upcoming service, alleging it may “result in higher prices for consumers and less fair licensing terms for upstream sports leagues and downstream video distributors.” Not only that, the American television service provided, Fubo TV, filed a case against the joint venture. Fubo intends to make authorities ban the service launch as it allegedly violated antitrust laws.
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