Venu Sports seemed like such an obvious idea. Instead of spreading all your sports viewing across a million different platforms with a million different interfaces and subscriptions, what if you could watch everything in the same place? It makes perfect sense, until you get to the caveats. It’s not everything. It’s going to be expensive. Some will argue it’s anticompetitive. Maybe this isn’t a good idea after all.
- Home
- Technology
- News
How the future of sports streaming died
Why Venu didn’t launch, what’s next for YouTube TV, Fubo, ESPN, and Amazon, and how to read more and scroll less, on this episode of The Vergecast.


On this episode of The Vergecast, after a brief update on the state of the TikTok ban, we explore the brief life and quiet death of the supposed future of sports streaming. Sportico’s Jacob Feldman joins the show to explain where Venu came from, why its parent companies — ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros.-Discovery — thought it was a good idea, and why Fubo immediately picked a fight over its existence. We also discuss the future of sports streaming now that Venu is gone, and whether ESPN, Amazon, or someone else stands to be the next worldwide leader.
After that, The Verge’s Kevin Nguyen joins the show for the first in our two-part New Year’s Resolution series. If you’re hoping to read more books this year, or just want to replace some of your aimless scrolling with more focused reading, Kevin has some tips on how to make it work on all your devices, at all times of day. Sometimes you get to curl up with a good book, but sometimes you have three minutes in line at the coffee shop. If you do it right, they’re both great reading times.
Finally, we answer a question on the Vergecast Hotline (866-VERGE11, or email [email protected]) about why your phone won’t let you play multiple audio sources at a time. We have some ideas about how it works — and an easy way for Apple and Google to fix it.
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started:

Quetta blast leaves two dead, six wounded
- 15 hours ago

Gauff advances at French Open despite struggles
- 19 hours ago

The Supreme Court just gave 500,000 immigrants some truly awful news
- 5 hours ago

Earthquake of magnitude 6.1 jolts Japan’s Hokkaido, JMA says
- 18 hours ago

PM Shehbaz vows to defeat all nefarious designs of India, Fitna al Hindustan
- 14 hours ago

79.4 mph! How Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens became the hardest thrower softball has ever seen
- 6 hours ago

Google Photos adds Pixel-exclusive AI features to redesigned editor
- 7 hours ago

Canes save season, snap ECF skid with G4 win
- 6 hours ago

Haliburton's historic triple-double keys Game 4 win
- 6 hours ago

Trump figured out how to hit Harvard where it really hurts
- 5 hours ago

How Indy is exploiting New York's defense, plus more intel from the East finals
- 19 hours ago

Gold price plunges Rs1,400 per tola in Pakistan
- 17 hours ago