ESPN has been hemorrhaging online supporters for ages now but the ongoing dispute with YouTube TV has really brought the fan outrage to its apex. Now you've got college basketball legend Rick Pitino calling out The Worldwide Leader in Sports.

“There is potential renewed momentum on a deal between YouTube TV and Disney that could restore ESPN to the platform’s subscribers,” Marchand said. “Disney has its quarterly earnings scheduled for Thursday afternoon, which is a potential impetus for a deal to be completed.”

YouTube TV subscribers are approaching a second Saturday without access to a Utah football game. The carrier dispute that began just before Halloween between Di

The companies said that all outstanding payments to ESPN will end in the fourth quarter of 2025. ESPN will work with Penn to facilitate a transition from ESPN Bet to theScore Bet, the online sportsbook, and Penn will continue to be an ESPN advertising client, according to the news release.

The impasse carries clear commercial pain. Morgan Stanley has put the cost to Disney at roughly $30 million a week, or about $4.3 million a day, while YouTube TV risks losing subscribers the longer marquee sports and prime-time shows remain unavailable.

ESPN and Penn Entertainment are winding down their sports betting partnership two years after reaching a 10-year agreement.

Disney has its quarterly earnings scheduled for Thursday, which could be a potential impetus for a deal to be completed.

The Athletic reports that Disney and Google’s CEOs have become “more involved” in the negotiations nearly two weeks after ESPN, ABC, and other Disney-owned channels went dark on YouTube TV. Sources tell the outlet that YouTube TV is still trying to determine how much it should pay for Disney’s non-sports networks like Freeform,