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While most NFL fans are into the player market as the trade deadline looms, what is not as widely known is the media rights market. And a new development is about to have them in open revolt.On Thursday, YouTube TV announced that it was blacking out ESPN and ABC, among others, after the expiry of its service agreement with Disney. A statement from ESPN accused YouTube TV's owner Google of attempting to eliminate competition in the streaming sector:"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."We know how frustrating this is for YouTube TV subscribers and remain committed to working toward a resolution as quickly as possible."Not everyone was happy, however, accusing Disney of pricing its networks out of the service:Jimmy Allis @JimmyAllisLINK@JHawkShoots Disney is a bunch of greedy scumbags. I'm sure that YT is trying to avoid a cost increase and Disney is pushing for higher costs.Greg Petree @gpetree65LINK@JHawkShoots It's always Disney. They raised prices before on Comcast, Nexstar, and Spectrum. This isn't their first battle with YouTube either. Disney is a huge, greedy corporation that cares nothing about their customers.somaq @somaqkdLINK@JHawkShoots Disney wants to raise the price for their content from $20 to $30 This would make YTTV $93"The hate should be focused on Disney," one insisted."Google should just buy Disney imo," another opined."They want people to pay $30 a month just for the ESPN channels," another lamented.Meanwhile, YouTube TV responded by offering to pay subscribers a $20 credit should they remain incapable of accessing the Disney content:“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.”YouTube TV's streaming deals with NFL's other broadcast TV partners: A brief overviewThe other NFL broadcasters, however, have already secured multi-year content agreements with YouTube TV.The first of these was Paramount, owner of CBS, which struck a deal in February, just days after Super Bowl LIX. Their initial agreement had lapsed on the Thursday of Super Bowl week, and both sides agreed on a temporary extension in the interim. The deal covers, in addition to CBS and the CBS Sports Channel, BET, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Paramount Network, CMT, Nick Jr., Smithsonian Channel and VH1.Fox was next to join in August, just days before the regular season began. Its deal includes the entire portfolio of stations, including local affiliates.NBCUniversal was the last to renew, doing so only this month. Notably, its agreement includes a relaunch of the NBC Sports Network, which had been shuttered in 2021, with YouTube TV as its inaugural carrier.
