Elizabeth Warren Warns DOJ Antitrust Division Over Disney-Fubo Transaction: “Another Attempt To Dominate Sports Streaming Marketplace”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is raising red flags over The Walt Disney Co.’s proposed acquisition of Fubo, arguing in a letter to the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division that the transaction “decreases competition and may violate antitrust law.”
Her criticism of the transaction comes as many in media are wondering if the Trump administration will actually take a more lenient stance toward M&A and antitrust enforcement, as has been the case with previous Republican administrations. Earlier this week, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Andrew Ferguson, announced that the Biden-era FTC and DOJ merger guidelines would remain in place, to the dismay of some industry groups.
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“Disney is already one of the most powerful media companies in the world,” Warren wrote in the letter to Omeed Assefi, acting assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division. “Threatened by Fubo’s lawsuit and in an apparent attempt to keep Fubo from ‘becoming the next Netflix,’ Disney has proposed a plan to acquire its competitor, and, in the process become an even more powerful force in an already highly-concentrated market.” Variety first reported on Warren’s letter.
Warren was among the lawmakers who raised concerns last summer over the proposed joint venture between Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery to create a sports streaming platform called Venu. Fubo sued to challenge the joint venture, and a judge sided with their argument that Venu posed a likely antitrust violation.
In January, Disney announced that it would purchase a 70% stake in Fubo, a settlement of the Venu case. But the sports joint venture was abandoned anyway.
In her letter, Warren laid out a number of areas she said posed antitrust concerns, including that Fubo and Hulu+Live TV will be under Disney’s control.
“Under this ownership structure, neither Disney nor the operating board of directors have a profit incentive for Fubo and Hulu + Live TV to compete,” Warren wrote. She said that Disney, with control of an estimated 35% of the virtual MVPD market, may seek to limit access to competitors’ sports rights through higher carriage costs of bundling requirements.
“As the companies have acknowledged, the sports streaming market is rapidly changing,” Warren wrote. “This uncertainty only underscores the need for antitrust enforcers to carefully assess the potential impacts this proposed deal will have on competition, the broader streaming industry, and millions of sports fans across the country.”
A Disney spokesperson declined to comment.
Trump’s choice to lead the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Gail Slater, has yet to be confirmed. She had extensive experience working in the industry — including for Fox Corp. — and also for a Democratic commissioner at the FTC, an adviser to Trump during his first term, and an adviser to then-Sen. J.D. Vance. At her confirmation hearing last week, she drew praises from members of both parties, although some Democrats queried her on concerns that Trump would try to use antitrust enforcement to punish companies.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said that they received the letter but declined comment.
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