Could the Government Find Disney’s New Joint Sports Streaming Service Illegal?

Recently, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced his plans for a new sports streaming network.

This new streaming service will be brought to us by Fox, Warner Brothers Discovery, and ESPN (which Disney owns) and will allow sports fans to watch all their content in one place rather than paying for more than one streaming service. However, the United States Government may have to get involved because this new streaming service may violate federal law.

According to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Justice is planning to investigate this new streaming service, as there are concerns it could “harm consumers, sports leagues and rivals.”

The Department of Justice won’t look over the streaming service until the terms of the deal between the companies are finalized. So far, we know that Disney’s new sports streaming service will be an app that will provide non-exclusive access to games from the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the FIFA World Cup, and college competitions.

Following Disney’s announcements about this new sports streaming service, some groups raised concerns about the competition it will create with other smaller sports streaming services not included in the deal.

Seth Bloom, an antitrust lawyer with Bloom Strategic Counsel in Washington, stated, “The DOJ would likely look at the competitive implications of that and whether other companies that wish to provide this service will be foreclosed from the market.”

While having a one-stop shop for all these different sports benefits consumers, if it pushes all others out of business, it leaves this still-unnamed streaming service as the only option. Then, if Disney decides to raise prices once the competition is eliminated, that’s where it could become harmful to consumers.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest news from this joint venture, so stay tuned to AllEars.

Here’s what we know about the PRICE of this currently unnamed new streaming service

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