WASHINGTON - The Open Markets Institute and its partners filed an amicus brief in the case of FuboTV versus a joint streaming venture between major TV broadcasters including Disney, Warner Brothers, Fox and Discovery, urging the courts to block the new venture that would dominate 80% of live sports content and is slated to begin this fall. The case goes to trial today in the Southern District of New York. 

The brief was drafted by Amanda Lewis at Cuneo Gilbert and filed together with partner organizations, Sports Fans Coalition, Public Knowledge, Electronic Fronteer Foundation, and American Economic Liberties Project and explains how the joint sports venture’s launch could cause irreparable harm to consumers and permanently damage live media markets. 

The judge in the case accepted the brief, writing, “[t]he Court finds that the proposed amicus brief, filed by well-respected non-profit organizations with a history of advocating for consumers in areas relevant to this litigation, has the potential to aid the Court and offer insights not available from the parties...” 

“A deal that grants 80% of any marketplace to a single entity has no place in American commerce,” said Open Markets Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan. “We urge the judge to side with FuboTV, sports fans and consumers, fair markets, and decades of antitrust precedent.” 

Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets reporter Austin Ahlman is in New York covering the trial. Ahlman has written that this case has wider implications for the future of the entire broadcast television marketplace including TV news and journalism. 

Earlier this year, Open Markets joined a coalition of other fair markets advocates asking Congress to scrutinize the proposed new streaming service for the unprecedented power over live television programming that it would grant to its co-owners, which are already dominant players in their own right. 

If you are interested in speaking to Vaheesan or Ahlman about the case, email woolheater@openmarketsinstitute.org. 

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