Monopoly and anti-monopoly have always been one of the main contradictions in the American business world. In February this year, three media industry giants, Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers, jointly announced plans to establish a new joint streaming platform in the fall. This will integrate the sports assets owned by the three parties, offering consumers a new way to watch major sports events.
However, this plan has recently encountered opposition. US Congressmen Jerry Nadler and Joaquin Castro expressed their concerns about this plan on Tuesday. They believe that this alliance could lead to monopolistic practices, resulting in price increases for consumers and serious monopolistic competition as well as unfair terms for the industry's vertical and horizontal players.
According to the original plan, this platform will be different from traditional cable TV. It is mainly aimed at sports audiences and includes broadcasting rights for all sports programs under Disney, ESPN+, Fox, and Warner Brothers. Insiders revealed that the subscription fee for this platform could be between $45 to $50 per month.
Currently, the platform holds the rights to the main sports in the United States, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and a large number of professional and college leagues, virtually covering the broadcasting rights for all mainstream sports in the United States.
The scale of this collaboration is so large that it cannot be undertaken by any one party alone. Therefore, a new company will be established to operate independently, with Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers' Discovery Channel each holding a one-third stake in the new company. This platform will be linked to the existing streaming services of these three companies through a new app.
Since its announcement, this plan has faced widespread skepticism, mainly concerning anti-monopoly issues. FuboTV filed an antitrust lawsuit against the three companies and their associates shortly after the news was announced, accusing them of engaging in monopolistic practices over the long term, hindering the development of new streaming services related to sports, and stating that the new joint venture is their latest step towards eliminating competition to form a monopoly.
So far, the three companies have not responded to or commented on the antitrust concerns.
