It came like Paul Revere and his midnight ride in 1775, alerting nearby minutemen of the approach of British troops prior to the battles of Lexington and Concord. On Friday night, social media, sports fans, and media trade sites alike were all in celebration. The Walt Disney Company, who owns ESPN, ongoing carriage dispute with Google was over. No presidential address, no breaking news sounder on CNN. Just a series of tweets and statements bringing the two-week standoff to an end.
Football fans rejoice! You were able to watch college football this weekend and Monday Night Football later this evening.
This wasn’t a typical carriage dispute. There was no extension of talks, no quick resolution with an approaching deadline. The situation became a 15-day battle of public statements, misguided criticism, and sports fans caught in the middle of it. Was there anything to learn from this dispute that ESPN and other sports networks can change their approach next time? Because there will be a next time.
There are three lessons that ESPN should learn from, and other networks should take notice of for their next upcoming carriage battle.
Protect Your Talent
The first lesson to learn from is protecting your talent. The cringeworthy and forced propaganda that ESPN placed upon some of their top talent led to immediate backlash and criticism of the network and the talent involved. Of course, talent wants to be team players for the networks that enrich them so handsomely. However, posting the messaging puts a face on the dispute that has no true involvement in the first place.
Did KeepMyNetworks.com really do anything to speed up the talks between Disney and Google? Maybe it did, but I also have a horse to sell you if you believe that.
Sports fans were upset that they couldn’t watch sports. ESPN fans were upset that they couldn’t enjoy their favorite personalities. Placing your talent on the front line of the dispute was a massive miss. No face should be put on messaging unless it serves the greater good of the consumer you serve. This carriage dispute doesn’t benefit anyone except ESPN and YouTube. The fans lose either way.
Control The Message
The second lesson to learn is controlling the message, at least better than this last attempt. ESPN has placed itself in the position it’s in by arranging content deals with talent on licensing deals. Pat McAfee, Rich Eisen, Omaha Productions alike. These are not “ESPN talent,” and the network has little to no control over the direction of their content because of the licensing deals themselves.
McAfee is a loose cannon. It’s what built his empire and has enriched his attachment to his audience over the years. His comments on the carriage dispute should have never made it to air. Criticizing the network for forcing talent to push the propaganda they did on social media—does that help the network, the messaging, or the public perception of the dispute itself?
Last week, Bob Iger decided to make an appearance on The ManningCast. The Walt Disney Company CEO, who is stepping away in spring of 2026, spent nine minutes and a commercial break saying nothing of the ongoing dispute that his company is part of. Many criticized the Mannings for not asking a single question, which I felt was misguided.
It was more about optics. The Disney CEO appeared on a broadcast that those affected by the carriage dispute couldn’t even watch themselves. Why apologize or update an audience that couldn’t see or hear you in the first place?
The segment was fully scripted, uncomfortable, and simply lacked any kind of substance. At least now I know Iger is a big Green Bay Packers fan. He was wearing a Packers windbreaker!
Between saying nothing and saying too much, there are lessons to be learned in that for ESPN and other networks moving forward.
Market Your Product
The third is empathy. ESPN introduced a new direct-to-consumer platform earlier this year. It wasn’t rolled out specifically for instances like this past carriage dispute, but it is a way to introduce the YouTube TV audience to your product.
Why not allow full free access to YouTube TV customers while the battle rages on?
Unfortunately because of agreements with other distribution partners, ESPN couldn’t put everything out on their own DTC for free. The network was able to find a way and did take a step toward in that direction with College GameDay the past three weekends, streaming the show on the ESPN DTC and Pat McAfee’s Twitter account.
However, could the network have crafted agreements for situations like the one with YouTube TV? Maybe. If it hasn’t been thought about till now, why not? This isn’t the first, and certainly won’t be the last time a carriage dispute will happen with networks and distributors even if the programming owned by ESPN.
Regarding the ESPN DTC, the network stated at the launch of the new DTC product that the goal is not to force people to cut the cord to gain access to ESPN. In this case, a dispute with YouTube TV had the cord cut for them, even if it was temporary. There were no guarantees that the ESPN Unlimited package would be available for YouTube TV customers as part of any agreement.
Simply put, there was no better opportunity to show empathy for the ESPN/YouTube TV consumer while the carriage battle raged on than the last two weeks. Even on a trial basis or a reduced fee in the temporary, it would have given customers what they wanted and calmed outrage while the two sides continued their talks. Plus, you never know how many free trials could have turned into subscribers of their own.
The Consumer Is Stuck
There’s no escape. Watching sports will continue to get more difficult and more expensive for the sports fan. It’s a harsh reality to admit, but there’s no denying it. The days of turning on a game without wondering where the broadcast is and how much more it will cost you to watch are dead and gone.
With every dispute—which YouTube TV this year has had with Paramount, Skydance, Fox, and now Disney—comes lessons to learn from. No one wants what happened the past two weeks to happen. The customer always loses, while the networks and distributors win.
These disputes aren’t going away—if anything, they’re becoming part of the modern sports-watching experience. But they don’t have to be this chaotic or this damaging. ESPN and every network in the ecosystem can learn from the past two weeks: don’t weaponize your talent, don’t lose control of your own megaphone, and don’t forget who all of this is supposed to be for.
Fans may have won the right to watch this weekend’s games, but they’re still losing the larger war. Until these companies finally prioritize the people footing the bill, we’ll all be stuck in this cycle, waiting for the next midnight ride.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
