The launch of Venu Sports is set to be delayed as a federal judge has granted FuboTV’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the planned sports streaming venture involving ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. United States District Judge Margaret M. Garnett in the Southern District of New York expressed in a 69-page ruling that Fubo was likely to prove that the joint venture would breach antitrust laws and cause irreparable harm to Fubo and consumers without an injunction.

Fubo TV initiated the lawsuit two weeks following the announcement made by ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Hulu detailing their intentions to introduce a sports streaming service on February 6. In its filing, FuboTV mentioned that it has been aiming to provide a sports-only streaming service for years but has been impeded by ESPN. Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have allegedly imposed bundling requirements on FuboTV, requiring them to obtain expensive licenses and broadcast content that their customers do not desire.

The pricing for Venu Sports was previously announced as $42.99 per month, with its scheduled launch in the fall. The platform was expected to include 14 linear networks such as ESPN, ESPN2, ACC Network, ABC, FOX, TNT, TBS, and ESPN+, among others. Subscribers were also to have the option to bundle the service with Disney+, Hulu, and/or Max.

Venu Sports CEO Pete Distad stated that they aimed to launch at an attractive price point to cater to cord cutters and cord never fans who are currently not being served by existing pay TV packages. ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery were each planning to have a one-third ownership stake in the joint venture.