The latest major sports event to be disrupted by the ongoing Disney–YouTube TV carriage dispute was Tuesday’s debut College Football Playoff rankings reveal show of the 2025 season.
An exclusive live ESPN broadcast at 8 p.m. ET, the program was unavailable for YouTube TV’s estimated 10 million subscribers. (Not to mention ABC’s popular telecast of Dancing With The Stars at the same time.)
More than 20 Disney channels, including all ESPN networks, have been dark on the No. 4 U.S. pay-TV distributor since midnight on Friday, after the two sides failed to reach a new deal. Since then, ABC and ESPN’s full slate of college football and the Cardinals-Cowboys Monday Night Football broadcast have been unavailable on YouTube TV.
Last season, ESPN’s live CFP rankings show drew more than 1 million viewers in primetime on multiple occasions. Interest in the CFP rankings has grown as the postseason bracket expanded from four to 12 teams last year, and is now shifting its seeding structure this year.
Schedule Dynamics
Should Disney and YouTube TV fail to reach an agreement by this weekend, the following major college football games, among others, will be unavailable on the streamer:
- Tulane at Memphis (ESPN)
- No. 5 Georgia at Mississippi State (ESPN)
- No. 7 BYU at No. 8 Texas Tech (ABC)
- No. 3 Texas A&M at No. 22 Missouri (ABC)
- LSU at No. 4 Alabama (USC)
On Monday, ABC and ESPN are set to simulcast the Eagles-Packers matchup that features the first-place teams in the NFC East and North divisions, respectively. ESPN has national NBA broadcasts on Wednesday and Saturday.
