Nobody saw this coming. YouTube TV and Disney got into a carriage dispute over fees. As a result, Disney-owned channels like ABC and ESPN were removed from YouTube TV on October 30, 2025. This surprised millions of football fans across the U.S. and around the world. Former NFL player JJ Watt also shared his frustration on X.

“So we’re just not watching Monday Night Football huh? I’m not buying another streaming subscription…” he tweeted on November 4.

The crazy part is that up to 10 million YouTube TV subscribers missed the Week 9 Monday Night Football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals due to the blackout. The disruption continued into Week 10, when fans were unable to watch the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Green Bay Packers.

However, Disney CFO Hugh F. Johnston offered a hopeful update on November 13, saying Disney was ready to move forward whenever YouTube TV was. His statement gave fans a reason to believe the dispute might soon be resolved.

“(We’re) ready to go as long as YouTube TV wants to,” Johnston said on November 13.

It’s clear. They don’t want to stretch the dispute, but aren’t ready to back down either.

Stay tuned! There’s more to this story.