ESPN Goes Dark On YouTube TV Ahead Of College Football Weekend

ESPN and other Disney channels have officially gone dark on YouTube TV.

On Friday morning, Disney and ESPN released a statement revealing they had not reached an agreement with YouTube TV over carriage fees.

Here’s ESPN’s statement.

“Unfortunately, Google’s YouTube TV has chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels, including ESPN and ABC. Without a new agreement in place, their subscribers will not have access to our programming, which includes the best lineup in live sports — anchored by the NFL, NBA, and college football, with 13 of the top 25 college teams playing this weekend. With a $3 trillion market cap, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor. We know how frustrating this is for YouTube TV subscribers and remain committed to working toward a resolution as quickly as possible.”

Here’s YouTube TV’s statement, in which they offer users a $20 credit while they continue negotiating with ESPN.

“We know this is a frustrating and disappointing outcome for our subscribers and we continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV. If their content remains off YouTube TV for an extended period of time, we’ll offer subscribers a $20 credit.”

Earlier in the day, ESPN had all its big-name personalities telling users to be prepared for a blackout if YouTube TV didn’t agree to its terms.

YouTube TV customers: You may lose access to First Take, CFB, NFL and NBA games on ESPN and ABC. Head over to https://t.co/QCeJQoU6kj now so you don’t miss out. pic.twitter.com/77wlwvThL7

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) October 30, 2025