Why Sports TV Joint Venture Is Dead

Sports fans, listen up. If you were planning to sign up for the new Venu sports-streaming service due to launch this fall—to include sports cable channels such as ESPN, TNT and Fox Sports 1, all for the cut-rate price of just $43 a month—think again. Chances are Venu will never see the light of day, thanks to a judge’s ruling on Friday night blocking the launch temporarily.

A read of the judge’s decision makes it clear there’s a solid antitrust case against the venture, which makes it hard to see how Venu’s owners—Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery—can resuscitate the plan. (They’ve promised to appeal.) It also makes you wonder what the folks at those companies were thinking when they greenlit this idea.