The legal battle surrounding Venu Sports, as expected, has escalated, with a formal notice by the streaming property’s three backers to appeal a preliminary injunction blocking the service’s debut. But the bigger question is still how much the bundle truly matters to Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. 

The trio of media giants filed its notice of appeal late Monday against FuboTV, and is now taking the antitrust case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. 

“We believe that Fubo’s arguments are wrong on the facts and the law, and that Fubo has failed to prove it is legally entitled to a preliminary injunction,” the companies said. “Venu Sports is a pro-competitive option that aims to enhance consumer choice.”

Corporate Priorities

Despite that legal move, industry chatter continues to rise as to whether Venu Sports will actually see the light of day and, if it does, how meaningful it will really be. Long before U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Garnett issued her ruling, Disney CEO Bob Iger made clear that Venu Sports was only one component of a much larger corporate strategy to embrace streaming and navigate broader media industry disruption.

In particular, Iger has frequently discussed plans to introduce a stand-alone, direct-to-consumer version of the flagship ESPN network in the fall of 2025, an effort that is a major initiative for all of Disney.

“That will be a very, very immersive—and obviously sports-centric—app, which will have features that this combination with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery will not have, such as integrated betting, integrated fantasy … [and] merchandise capabilities,” Iger said in February of the forthcoming DTC version of ESPN.

During recent earnings calls, executives from WBD and Fox offered more overt support for Venu Sports, with WBD CEO David Zaslav calling it something that “will appeal to cord-cutter and cord-never fans not currently served by existing pay-TV packages.” Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, meanwhile, reiterated a somewhat modest projection of five million subscribers for the service by 2029.

But both WBD and Fox are smaller than Disney, in terms of revenue, and WBD’s TNT Sports is particularly in the midst of reconstituting its sports portfolio after the NBA did not renew its rights deal with the network. Those factors give Venu Sports a larger profile within those companies. The service will also primarily rely on backend technology from Fox.

The Winning Streak Continues

FuboTV’s stock, meanwhile, continued its strong market rally since Garnett granted the injunction against Venu Sports.

After rising 17% on Friday, and another 17.6% on Monday, shares in the streaming company increased an additional 7.8% on Tuesday to reach $1.94 per share. The stock is now trading at its highest levels since the end of February.

With football season right around the corner, the high-profile, $14 billion NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit that played out over the summer continues to take twists and turns in court.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez made a final judgment in favor of the NFL on all accounts, and the plaintiffs are now expected to file a motion to reconsider ahead of taking the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, a step below the Supreme Court. 

Gutierrez, on Aug. 1, had overturned a jury verdict ordering the NFL to pay $4.7 billion, which would have been tripled under antitrust law. On Monday, the plaintiffs filed an objection to the NFL’s proposed order that asked Gutierrez to terminate claims for injunctive relief. 

In simpler terms, the league didn’t want to have to make changes to how it distributes NFL Sunday Ticket, in addition to not paying out any damages. But the plaintiffs were arguing that the NFL should have to make some operational changes, even if it doesn’t pay damages. Gutierrez, who is retiring in October, has once again sided with the NFL.

Money Game

Google, which is not part of the controversial lawsuit, is entering its second season with NFL Sunday Ticket rights, at a cost of $2 billion annually.

YouTube and YouTube TV, both owned by Google, are offering more customizable multiview streaming options this season, which figures to be a popular addition among subscribers. 

The base price of Sunday Ticket increased by $30 this month, up to $379 for YouTube TV subscribers, and $479 for the à la carte option. Sunday Ticket subscriptions are also now available to purchase via the Apple App Store—but at a higher rate of $680. Apple takes a 30% cut of purchases made through its app store. 

Apple users can still choose to purchase a Sunday Ticket subscription with a Google account for the cheaper price and use the same YouTube or YouTube TV app on their Apple devices.