Dave Portnoy weighed in on the ESPN-YouTube TV blackout during Monday’s Wake Up Barstool, breaking down the carriage dispute that’s left roughly 10 million subscribers in the dark since Thursday.
The blackout started Oct. 31 when Disney pulled ABC, ESPN, and over 20 other channels from YouTube TV after negotiations fell apart. Subscribers have missed some of college football’s biggest games, Monday Night Football, and prime NBA and NHL action.
“This is chaos for a sports fan, and it sucks for us,” Portnoy said. “It sucks for people who want to watch football. As a business guy, I totally get it. I understand ESPN’s point of view, and I understand YouTube’s point of view. ESPN’s saying, ‘Hey, we pay all this money for all these rights, these conference games and live television, we don’t think you’re giving us enough. We think the reason to sign up for YouTube TV is to watch football, and watch these games, so we need more money.’ And YouTube is saying, ‘No, no, no, we can’t give you any more money,’ so they have this impasse.”
“It sucks for us, it sucks for people who want to watch football. As a business guy, I totally get it. I understand ESPN’s point of view and I understand YouTube’s point of view.” – @stoolpresidente pic.twitter.com/NBZ4PPT4tW
— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) November 3, 2025
“And, unfortunately, for the fans, this is how America works,” Portnoy continued. “It’ll be resolved over time, most likely, but, hey, this is America, this is capitalism. The market will dictate what the market wants. And it stinks for us.”
The fight comes down to how much YouTube TV should pay for Disney’s channels. Disney wants more money, arguing ESPN’s live sports are what drive subscriptions. YouTube TV, now the fourth-largest pay-TV provider in the country with 10 million subscribers, says it won’t pay more than other distributors.
Disney claims YouTube TV is “using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms” it’s negotiated with everyone else. YouTube TV fires back that Disney “used the threat of a blackout as a negotiating tactic to force deal terms that would raise prices on our customers” while helping Disney’s own competing services like Hulu + Live TV and Fubo.
The Barstool founder doesn’t trust either company’s spin.
“I’m under no delusion that Disney gives a crap about us, or YouTube TV gives a crap about us,” he said. “They’re pointing the finger, putting us in the middle. They only care about their bottom lines, and unfortunately, the market — us — will dictate who wins in this argument. There’s no point in complaining. The pocketbook will dictate it. As a business guy, I totally understand the fight, and my guess is ESPN wins.”
Portnoy’s prediction makes sense given ESPN’s position. College football viewership is at a 16-year high, with ABC averaging 7.1 million viewers per game this season. Disney’s recent Fubo acquisition and ownership of Hulu + Live TV also give it options to capture YouTube TV subscribers looking for alternatives.
YouTube TV isn’t without leverage, though. With 10 million subscribers, it represents a significant portion of people who left cable specifically to avoid these disputes.
But as Portnoy pointed out, the market will ultimately decide this fight — and right now, that market is learning streaming comes with the same problems as cable.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.