Congressmen question Bob Iger and Lachlan Murdoch on sports joint venture

In a surprising turn of events, a still-in-development sports streaming joint venture is now under scrutiny from Congress. Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Joaquin Castro have sent a letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, asking probing questions about the proposed venture.

The joint venture, which was announced back in February, promises channels from ESPN, Fox, TBS, and TNT in a skinny multichannel offering. However, it lacks channels from NBCUniversal and Paramount, among others, raising concerns about access, competition, and choice in the sports streaming market.

The letter from the congressmembers asks for responses by April 30 and requests that the Department of Justice be copied in the response. It raises questions about pricing, distribution, rights, and competition, highlighting potential issues with higher prices for consumers and less fair licensing terms for sports leagues and video distributors.

One partner, Fubo TV, has even gone as far as suing to block the joint venture, showing the level of concern in the industry. The letter also questions how the new venture will affect the competitive bidding for sports content among the partners and whether it will lead to higher prices and unfair licensing agreements.

With no name, price, or definitive agreement in place yet, the sports joint venture still has a long way to go before launching. However, with the involvement of industry giants like Disney and Warner Bros., the outcome of this congressional scrutiny could have far-reaching implications for the sports streaming market.