Disney Backed Out of ‘Redundant’ Venu Because of the Rise of Sports Skinny Bundles

CEO Bob Iger also took a shot at Netflix, noting that ESPN is not about “one day of football”

The NFL has become critical to linear TV's sustainability.
The NFL has become critical to linear TV's sustainability. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The rise of sports skinny bundles led to The Walt Disney Company’s decision to back out of Venu Sports, the joint streamer between Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. CEO Bob Iger revealed during the company’s first-quarter earnings call for 2025 on Wednesday.

“What essentially happened is, after the decision was made and we started to implement the launch of Venu, the emergence of these skinnier bundles surfaced. Venu basically looked redundant to us,” Iger said on Wednesday morning. “This was a great opportunity for us to make ESPN available on multiple skinny bundles and then to actually merge the Hulu live and the Fubo channel businesses into one.”

Disney reportedly invested $400 million into Venu Sports, which is the same amount both Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox invested. The decision to pull out of the endeavor appeared on the company’s first quarter earnings report as a $50 million charge that adversely impacted sports operating income.

The company previously announced that Fubo operations will be combined with its Hulu + Live TV offering. Once the combined offering is approved, Iger emphasized the company plans to use it to enhance the Hulu+ Live TV experience and to invest more into its interface.

“The goal all along is to make ESPN as accessible as possible and in as many ways as possible to the consumer,” Iger said. “I can’t predict whether the emergence of these skinnier bundles is going to have a material impact on cord cutting or not, except to say that we plan to take advantage of the emergence of these bundles because it is a great way to distribute ESPN.”

At the moment, the company is leaning into the development of Flagship, the current name of ESPN’s standalone streaming offering. Iger noted the streamer will feature “some combination” of betting and fantasy along with a “high degree of customization and personalization” and more programming than ESPN’s linear channels currently offer. The plan is for the streamer to launch in the fall of this year.

“We’re actually quite excited about it because, first of all, it gives us an opportunity to bundle it with Disney+ and Hulu, and we will get really smart and strategic about pricing there. But it gives consumers the option of basically just staying in a sports-only experience or combining it with their other services,” Iger said.

The longtime Disney head also used the earning call to take a veiled shot at Netflix, noting that other streamers have recently entered the live sports arena.

“[ESPN] is on 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. So if you’re a sports fan it’s not about one day of one boxing event or one day of football. It’s about sports every single day of the year and every hour of the day,” Iger said. “That’s a pretty compelling consumer proposition.”

From its first announcement, Venu Sports drew criticism from pay TV providers like Fubo, DirecTV and Dish Network. Fubo even sued the venture over antitrust concerns, which led to a $220 million settlement and temporarily blocking Venu’s launch. Disney and Fubo later came to an agreement which will see Disney owning 70% of the streamer and Fubo being turned into a new sports and broadcasting service.

But even though Venu and its lawsuit may be dead, the drama around this particular media story may not be over. In the wake of the settlement, DirecTV and Dish Network’s parent EchoStar are evaluating their options, an insider familiar with the matter told TheWrap.

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