As streaming company Fubo takes aim at the sports streaming joint venture between ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, the troika appears to be receiving perhaps unintended public support from an unexpected source: Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish.
Speaking on Paramount’s fourth quarter call for results On Wednesday, Bakish noted that the joint venture “only has a subset of sports” and also said it was “hard to believe that this is ideal.”
So, starting with the topic of sports, start with the fact that there is still a lot we don’t know about this service, things like price, packaging, consumer appetite. And from a consumer perspective, for a true sports fan, this product only offers a subset of sports. Half the NFL is missing, a lot of colleges are missing, there’s barely any football or golf, etc. So look, it’s hard to believe this is ideal, especially at the speculated price levels.
The joint venture, which still hasn’t launched and is missing many details (which Bakish also noted in his comments), has been criticized by some in the industry. Fubo sued all three companies last weekclaiming that what they call a “sports cartel” has “challenged our business at every opportunity through pernicious practices”.
Bakish’s comments, coming from a direct competitor of the three companies, almost appear to be an argument in favor of the joint venture. Paramount has been left out of this streaming service, and Bakish blames it for not having *enough* sports.
Experts seems skeptical over an antitrust challenge to the joint venture, and Bakish apparently saying it’s not comprehensive enough could put an end to other media companies’ arguments. This should be an important argument in favor of the troika when (or if) it goes to court.
