Scrutiny For Venu

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Joaquin Castro have sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate and potentially prevent Disney, Fox and Warner Bros’ from starting a joint venture that will combine the resources of ESPN, Fox Sports and TNT Sports in a direct-to-consumer streaming service called Venu Sports.

In the letter, obtained by The Athletic, the three Democrats urged the Department of Justice to examine Venu Sports “and oppose it if it violates antitrust or telecommunications laws or regulations.” They also think that Venu being described as a joint venture should not prevent it from scrutiny.

Venu Sports is slated to begin soon at a rate of $42.99 per month. Subscribers will not need a cable subscription and will be able to access all the programming and games from the three networks and their affiliates (such as ABC and Fox), plus ESPN+, the network’s extra direct-to-consumer service that features more niche sports.

ESPN has plans to make its network available directly to consumers as a standalone product next year, which The Athletic has previously reported is expected to cost $25-$30 per month.

Viewers can currently subscribe to services such as YouTube TV for around $70-$75, which includes all three networks plus the other major broadcast entities, NBC and CBS. Both of those networks also have their own direct-to-consumer streaming products.

Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch reiterated during his company’s earnings call this week that he expected Venu Sports to hit five million subscribers by 2029. While the agreement is between the trio, the subscription revenue from Venu Sports is based on the same formula as the networks receive from cable and satellite providers. ESPN, which makes in excess of $10 per cable subscriber, is set to receive the highest portion of Venu Sports revenue.