DirecTV asks for help from football conferences in negotiations with Disney

ESPN went off the air Sunday night on DirecTV during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and in the midst of the first full weekend of college football.

All Disney Entertainment channels, including ESPN, went dark on DirecTV after the sides were unable to reach a new carriage agreement.

The move, which happened 10 minutes before the start of the college football game between No. 13 LSU and 23rd-ranked Southern California in Las Vegas, angered some sports fans, who posted their displeasure on social media.

Because of the outcry, DirecTV is asking major football conferences to help in its negotiations with Disney, which is now the home for all SEC conference games (for the next 10 years). The $3 billion deal started this season.

In a letter sent to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, the head of state and local affairs for Direct TV said:

“Fan loyalty is at the core of our mission. We want to offer maximum choice and value by empowering fans to choose the content they want at lower price points, not forcing them to accept a bloated bundle of expensive channels they don’t watch. Instead of digging in their heels and demanding the status quo, we need Disney to work with us to create more flexible options that better serve today’s consumer preferences.”

Disney representatives responded by saying:

“DirecTV continues to misrepresent the facts around our ongoing negotiations. Our priority is to reach a marketplace deal that serves the needs of DirecTV and their customers while also recognizing the value of our top-quality content and the significant investment required to create and acquire it. We believe there is a path to a fair and flexible agreement that strikes this critical balance and works for all sides, especially the consumer.”

If the two sides don’t agree on a deal, marquee matchups like the newly branded “SEC on ABC” will not be available to DirecTV customers. This weekend that includes Saturday’s noon matchup between Arkansas and No. 16 Oklahoma State, Kentucky vs. South Carolina at 3:30 p.m. and 14th-ranked Tennessee hosting number 24 N.C. State at 7:30 p.m.

Games for the University of Florida and the University of Georgia are scheduled to air on SEC Network Plus this weekend, which some DirecTV plans would typically give access to.

In a statement on X, the SEC said: “As negotiations continue in an effort to restore ESPN programming to DirectTV, be reminded that other major TV and streaming providers like Dish, Sling, Hulu, YouTubeTV, and others carry ESPN and SECNetwork.”

DirecTV has 11.3 million subscribers, according to Leichtman Research Group, making it the nation’s third-largest pay TV provider.

Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chairmen of Disney Entertainment, and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro issued a joint statement urging DirecTV to finalize a deal.

The statement added that “while we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve.”

The impasse comes as networks and distributors continue to be at odds over content. Distributors and subscribers would like to see a model where they can buy channels a la carte instead of subscribing to a bundling package.

Distributors are also frustrated with production companies putting some of their premium programing on direct-to-consumer platforms before they show up on channels. DirecTV cited the miniseries “Shogun” appearing on Hulu before FX.

Besides all ESPN network channels and ABC-owned stations, Disney-branded channels Freeform, FX and National Geographic channel went dark on DirecTV.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports