International sports broadcaster ESPN and its parent company, media giant Disney, are being sued by tech start-up SportsBubble, which has accused the pair of using partnership negotiations to steal trade secrets and launch a copycat version of its product.
The lawsuit, filed last week in the Southern District of New York, relates to the WhatSports app, a platform launched by SportsBubble that aggregates options for streaming live sports and connects users to services providing coverage.
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The app was launched in 2021 by SportsBubble founder Lydia Murphy-Stephans, a former ABC Sports programming executive, amid a growing movement towards streaming services, which had led to sports fans struggling to find where to watch live games.
Commercially, while the app is free, the company gains income via referral fees paid by broadcasters when consumers take out a subscription to watch a live sports event.
Under the complaint, Murphy-Stephans alleges ESPN “feigned interest in a partnership with SportsBubble” and signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before being given access to the company’s “confidential trade and business secrets,” which the broadcaster then used to create a copycat “Where to Watch” feature that it launched last year.
In a statement, Murphy-Stephens said: “When I introduced SportsBubble to [Disney's chief executive] Bob Iger and ESPN executives years ago, they claimed to be excited about working with us and partnering on our flagship product, WatchSports.
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By GlobalData“But, while under NDA to evaluate WatchSports for a business partnership, they publicly announced a copycat product as if we magically didn’t exist. We firmly believe the ‘Where To Watch’ programming guide on the ESPN platforms is the same product SportsBubble presented to ESPN, and that they copied it, and put their own name on it.”
Based in California, SportsBubble has demanded compensatory damages it claims are worth at least $200 million. The high figure is due to a lead prospect, who valued SportsBubble at $25 million at the time, pulling out of a planned investment after ESPN launched its version, with proposed league partnerships also falling through for similar reasons.
The company is also seeking “all profits” earned by ESPN and Disney through Where to Watch, among other demands.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that five months into partnership discussions, ESPN had “agreed in principle” an affiliate marketing partnership to list ESPN+ sports events (around 40,000) on the WatchSports app, which would allow users to connect directly to ESPN and watch ESPN+ content.
After the agreement, ESPN then demanded access to SportsBubble’s proprietary technology information and other data connected to the app, which it shared with ESPN and Disney officials as part of negotiations under an NDA.
Along with “internal architecture and technology” of WatchSports, including geolocation functionality and an event management system, SportsBubble gave ESPN and Disney access to methods the company uses to communicate and integrate with APIs of streaming services, the results of beta testing, planned app features, and pricing strategies.
In 2023, ESPN announced its Where to Watch product and informed SportsBubble that it would no longer pursue a partnership.
In its lawsuit, SportsBubble alleges: “ESPN not only stole SportsBubble’s business model and product, but it also stymied SportsBubble’s growth by stringing SportsBubble along for months with false promises of a partnership, resource-intensive talks, and manufactured delays in the consummation of that partnership.
“While SportsBubble focused on its prospective partnership with ESPN, it put partnership discussions with the other major sports networks and event stakeholders on hold, losing valuable time it could have spent capturing more of the market through other opportunities.”
The complaint accuses ESPN of violating the Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act and state trade secrets laws. It has also accused the broadcaster of breaching its NDA contract, as well as unjust enrichment, fraudulent concealment, and more.
ESPN and Disney, which have not commented on the lawsuit, will answer the complaint in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, fellow US media giant Fox Corporation has filed a lawsuit against its former broadcast partner, Media Deportes Mexico (MDM), alleging the unauthorized use of its Fox Sports brand after their licensing agreement was terminated.
The complaint, filed in New York federal court, alleges MDM continued to operate under the name “Fox Sports Mexico” and used the Fox trademarks, despite Fox cancelling its partnership earlier in 2025 due to unpaid licensing fees.
Fox has claimed that MDM’s continued use of its brand constitutes trademark infringement and breach of contract.
The lawsuit centers around a deal between Fox and MDM in 2021, which saw the Mexican entity gain a non-exclusive license to operate as Fox Sports Mexico. However, Fox ended the agreement in March after MDM failed to pay licensing fees to broadcast soccer, American football’s NFL, and motor racing’s Formula 1.
The US media giant is seeking damages and a court order to block MDM from using its trademarks going forward. It has also requested an injunction on a Mexican court ruling granting MDM rights to the brand that, Fox says, was obtained under false pretenses.
Shortly after the complaint was filed, US District Judge Jed Rakoff granted Fox's request for a temporary restraining order, stating the filing had raised "very serious allegations" that suggested "totally despicable activity by the defendant [MDM]," according to a court transcript.
Meanwhile, Fox acquired Mexican sports-focused streaming platform Caliente TV in June.
