It’s that part of the season at which all of human achievement comes into laser focus. That time of the year when everything else is just a distraction at best and a huge waste of time at its most severe.
It is, folks, football and hockey season. Watching them has never been cheap, but at least with YouTube TV, it’s been easy to stream all the games in one place.
However, if YouTube TV loses Disney’s ESPN and ABC, that’s the end of that all-in-one-place coverage.
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Available at YouTube
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The Fall of YouTube TV’s Sports Empire Might Be Closer Than You Think
It wasn’t that long ago that I crowned YouTube TV the best streaming platform for watching every NFL game if you’re out of town. That also goes for hockey, which just kicked off its regular season a few weeks ago, too.
YouTube TV (plus NFL Sunday Ticket, if you’re watching football) isn’t cheap at $117.50 per month, but it is the only way to see them, since YouTube TV secured the exclusive deal with NFL Sunday Ticket.
Now, if Disney and Google can’t come to terms, YouTube TV will have to yank Disney’s channels from its platform. That means ESPN and ABC, which host a lot of games.
“We’ve been working in good faith to negotiate a deal with Disney that pays them fairly for their content on YouTube TV. Unfortunately, Disney is proposing costly economic terms that would raise prices on YouTube TV customers and give our customers fewer choices, while benefiting Disney’s own live TV products—like Hulu + Live TV and, soon, Fubo,” wrote Google in a snarky October 23 blog post.
“Without an agreement, we’ll have to remove Disney’s content from YouTube TV, and if it remains unavailable for an extended period of time, we will offer subscribers a $20 credit.”
For their part, Disney shot back at Google that same day with the following statement to Variety: “For the fourth time in three months, Google’s YouTube TV is putting their subscribers at risk of losing the most valuable networks they signed up for.”
“This is the latest example of Google exploiting its position at the expense of its own customers. We invest significantly in our content and expect our partners to pay fair rates that recognize that value. If we don’t reach a fair deal soon, YouTube TV customers will lose access to ESPN and ABC, and all our marquee programming—including the NFL, college football, NBA and NHL seasons—and so much more.”
It all sounds like a schoolyard spat, to which I say, “Fight, fight, fight!”
YouTube TV + NFL Sunday Ticket (opens in a new window)
Available at YouTube
Buy Now (opens in a new window)
The post YouTube TV’s Reign as a Sports Streaming Powerhouse Might Be Crumbling appeared first on VICE.
