CONFIRMED: Venu, Disney's Sports Streaming Service, Has Been Canceled

Disney has been focusing a lot of attention on its streaming services, with big plans for the future of sports streaming. In February 2024, Disney announced plans to partner with Warner Bros. and Fox to offer a new sports streaming service.

That service was eventually named Venu, and was originally supposed to launch in fall 2024 through a new app. However, after some controversy and legal battles, Disney has canceled the project, according to Variety.

Disney, along with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery announced that the bundled sports streaming service would be scrapped. This decision came after Disney and Fubo announced that the two streamers would combine Hulu+ Live TV and Fubo TV to offer one streaming service. In that deal, Disney took majority ownership of the new service.

©Fubo

This deal came AFTER Fubo filed a lawsuit against Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. over Venu. The lawsuit alleged “extreme suppression of competition in the US sports-focused streaming market,” meaning that the three companies were being accused of creating a monopoly in the sports streaming market.

Previously, the concept of Venu had come under fire by several of Disney’s competitors. Even the U.S. Department of Justice was planning to investigate the new streaming service as it could “harm consumers, sports leagues and rivals.”

©Venu Sports

Now, nearly a year after it was first announced, Venu has been officially canceled. In a statement, the three companies said, “After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service. In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels. We are proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period.”

It’s likely we’ll learn more about this decision when Disney hosts its Q1 2025 earnings call on February 5th. We’ll be covering the event, so check back with AllEars again soon for more.