Disney Faces Regulatory Roadblocks in Global Sports Push

Disney’s push for global sports broadcasting dominance just got hit with another flag on the play.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that antitrust regulators in India flagged Disney’s $8.5 billion merger with local media giant Reliance for potential competition concerns in the all-important arena of cricket broadcast rights. The tough beat comes just days after Disney faced similar antitrust scrutiny over the imminent launch of Venu Sports, Disney’s streaming joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery. 

Jiminy Cricket

Via its Disney Star family of TV stations, the House of Mouse already controls the TV broadcast rights to Indian Premier League cricket. But in the last round of rights bidding, Disney’s Hotstar streaming service lost the IPL streaming rights to Reliance’s JioCinema streamer. Then, in February, the two companies decided to join forces anyhow, agreeing to a merger to create a joint venture that would stand as a cricket powerhouse, with control of roughly half of the country’s linear TV audience and 85% of its streaming audience, per analyst projections. (Disney is set to own about 36% of the merged entity.) In other words, it’s a market effectively cornered.

Speaking of cornered markets, streaming service Fubo, which offers over-the-top access to live linear TV stations including ESPN and Fox Sports, has accused Disney, Fox, and WBD of doing just that via Venu Sports. Last Friday, a US district judge agreed — and now Disney is in double-trouble warding off antitrust concerns:

• As part of the decision, a preliminary injunction has been placed on the launch of Venu Sports, which was initially planned to launch this fall in conjunction with the start of the latest NFL season. The judge essentially argued that together, Disney, Fox, and WBD would control 60% of nationally broadcasted sports rights in the US — potentially kneecapping competitors like Fubo.
• Meanwhile, the Competition Commission of India has privately warned Disney and Reliance about their imminent control of sports rights in the subcontinent, sources told Reuters. The regulatory process is ongoing, and a deal is still likely if the two companies offer sufficient concessions, per Reuters.

Touchdown: Elsewhere in Hollywood, Netflix continues to prove that life as an international media powerhouse isn’t always so bad. On Tuesday, shares of the preeminent streamer hit an all-time high of $711.33; Netflix’s stock is up nearly 50% year-to-date. It’s easy to see why. The company also shared on Tuesday that its upfront ad negotiations for the year have concluded, with sales increasing 150% year-over-year thanks in part to live events like Christmas Day NFL games and WWE Raw. Who needs mergers when your one app already has it all?