Elizabeth Warren Warns DOJ Antitrust Division Over Disney-Fubo Transaction: “Another Attempt To Dominate Sports Streaming Marketplace”

deadline.com:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is raising red flags over The Walt Disney Co.’s proposed acquisition of Fubo, arguing in a letter to the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division that the transaction “decreases competition and may violate antitrust law.” Her criticism of the transaction comes as many in media are wondering if the Trump administration will actually take a more lenient stance toward M&A and antitrust enforcement, as has been the case with previous Republican administrations.

Earlier this week, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Andrew Ferguson, announced that the Biden-era FTC and DOJ merger guidelines would remain in place, to the dismay of some industry groups. “Disney is already one of the most powerful media companies in the world,” Warren wrote in the letter to Omeed Assefi, acting assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division. “Threatened by Fubo’s lawsuit and in an apparent attempt to keep Fubo from ‘becoming the next Netflix,’ Disney has proposed a plan to acquire its competitor, and, in the process become an even more powerful force in an already highly-concentrated market.” Variety first reported on Warren’s letter.

Warren was among the lawmakers who raised concerns last summer over the proposed joint venture between Fox, Disney and Warner Bros.

Discovery to create a sports streaming platform called Venu. Fubo sued to challenge the joint venture, and a judge sided with their argument that Venu posed a likely antitrust violation.