Nov 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department and 16

U.S. states said in a pair of court filings that they support a

court order won by FuboTV ( FUBO ) in August that temporarily

blocked Walt Disney ( DIS ), Fox and Warner Bros

Discovery ( WBD ) from launching a competing sports streaming

venture.

The Justice Department, New York, Illinois, California and

other states on Tuesday urged the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of

Appeals to uphold the preliminary injunction.

Sports-focused live TV streaming company Fubo in February

sued to block the new venture, called Venu Sports, arguing it

will violate U.S. antitrust law by reducing competition and

driving up prices. Venu and the media giants have denied the

claims, asserting that the platform will offer more consumer

choice.

The Justice Department and state coalition, which included

the District of Columbia, submitted Tuesday's filings as

friend-of-the-court briefs to express their views. They are not

part of the lawsuit.

Six other states, including Florida, backed the media

companies and Venu in a brief filed in September.

Fubo in a statement said support from the Justice Department

and states "reinforces our belief that the appellate court will

uphold the preliminary injunction against the defendants."

Venu has said "Fubo's arguments are wrong on the facts and

the law" and that Fubo had not shown it was entitled to the

injunction.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a

request for comment.

Venu, which would combine thousands of live professional and

collegiate sporting events into a single app, was scheduled to

launch this fall. Disney ( DIS ), Fox and Warner Bros contend they have

no "duty to deal" with Fubo to help it compete with Venu.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett in her preliminary

injunction ruling said Venu's media partners could "exercise

near-monopolistic control" over sports rights to prevent rivals

from emerging.

The Justice Department in its filing said a joint venture

can be unlawful "even if that same conduct would be legal when

done by a single firm."

New York and the other states told the court that "just as

forcing rivals to work together can harm competition, allowing

rivals to agree to work together can also harm competition."

The case is FuboTV ( FUBO ) et al v. The Walt Disney Company ( DIS ) et al,

2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 24-2210.

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