Elizabeth Warren does not want that to happen. In a seven-page letter addressed to acting DOJ assistant attorney general, Omeed Assefi, the Democratic Senator urged the agency to “closely scrutinize” the deal. “This proposed acquisition raises significant concerns under antitrust law, would give Disney increased market power and incentives to increase costs for viewers, and should be regarded as another data point in Disney’s history of anticompetitive behavior,” she wrote, re-emphasizing that she “urge[s] DOJ not to be fooled by Disney’s attempt to purchase its way around antitrust law.”
The proposed merger put an end to a protracted legal dispute between the two companies, which started when Fubo sued Disney, Fox Corp., and Warner Bros. Discovery over the companies’ now-scrapped joint live sports venture, Venu. The initial $1 billion suit claimed that Fubo’s competitors were trying to extract an “iron grip on sports content to extract billions of dollars in supra-competitive profits,” per The Hollywood Reporter.
That suit has now been settled with the stipulation that Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery pay Fubo a combined $220 million for its troubles. Warren, however, agrees with the company’s original stance. “It is notable that, as recently as the beginning of January, Disney and Fubo were litigation adversaries, with Fubo citing a characterization of Disney as ‘the final boss you must defeat after beating out all other media companies,'” she wrote. “By acquiring Fubo, Disney’s dominance would be even stronger.”
Citing the DOJ’s original intervention in the Venu case, Warren concluded, “I urge DOJ to continue this work on behalf of viewers by closely scrutinizing this proposed deal and blocking it if it violates antitrust law. As the companies have acknowledged, the sports streaming market is rapidly changing. 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.”
