Pat McAfee Reacts to Huge News of Disney’s Deal With YouTube TV Ahead of College Gameday
The college football world can breathe again. After two tense weeks, Disney and YouTube TV have finally reached a deal to bring ESPN and ABC back to millions of subscribers — and nobody was louder about it than Pat McAfee.
The ESPN host and College Gameday analyst broke the story to his followers in classic McAfee style: loud, raw, and straight from the front seat of a car in his hometown of Pittsburgh.
“HUGE NEWS,” McAfee posted alongside a video on X. “ESPN AND YOUTUBETV HAVE SHAKEN HANDS. We have a DEAL.”
Grinning from the front seat of a vehicle, McAfee declared, “Hey, ball’s back for the world. We need more ball, not less ball. This is a great thing and not a bad thing.” Then, with his signature flair, he closed with: “Congrats to all parties — for the good of f'ing ball. We’re back. This is good s***.”
HUGE NEWS
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 15, 2025
ESPN AND YOUTUBETV HAVE SHAKEN HANDS
We have a DEAL pic.twitter.com/VQH3Ameezb
The Blackout That Rocked Sports Fans
Disney and YouTube TV’s new agreement ends a two-week blackout that began on Oct. 30, when their carriage contract expired. The standoff pulled major Disney-owned channels off YouTube TV, including ESPN, ABC, FX, Freeform, SEC Network, and National Geographic.
The outage couldn’t have come at a worse time. College football, NBA, and NHL seasons were in full swing, leaving sports fans scrambling for alternate ways to watch live games.
During the impasse, YouTube TV accused Disney of demanding excessive rates that would force it to raise subscription prices. Disney countered that YouTube TV refused to pay fair market value for its channels and was leveraging its size “to eliminate competition.”
As days turned into weeks, both sides faced mounting criticism — and serious financial fallout. Analysts estimated Disney was losing $30 million a week in advertising and distribution revenue during the blackout.
What the New Deal Means
The new agreement restores Disney’s full suite of networks and stations to YouTube TV immediately. In a statement, Disney said it was “pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football.”
Here’s what the end of the blackout delivers:
- ESPN and ABC return to YouTube TV ahead of this weekend’s College Gameday broadcast.
- All Disney-owned channels — including FX, NatGeo, SEC Network, and Freeform — are live again.
- Advertising revenue resumes, halting a multimillion-dollar weekly loss for Disney.
- Fans win, regaining access to live sports and primetime programming.
The resolution also came with a wave of relief on Wall Street. Disney stock, which had fallen nearly 7 percent earlier in the week after a mixed earnings report, began to rebound as news of the deal broke.
Timing Is Everything
For Disney, the timing couldn’t have been better. ESPN’s College Gameday is one of the network’s most popular franchises, and Saturday’s broadcast from Pittsburgh promises a major ratings bump now that YouTube TV viewers are back in the fold.
McAfee’s viral announcement gave the news an instant cultural jolt — turning a dry corporate dispute into a shared win for sports fans everywhere. “We’re back,” he said, smiling into the camera. “Thank you, the heavens.”
Disney executives echoed that optimism, saying the agreement reflects a “commitment to bringing premium sports and entertainment to as many viewers as possible.”
After two weeks of frustration, McAfee’s celebration captured the mood perfectly: fans are ready for kickoff, Disney has stopped the bleeding, and the world — at least for now — has more ball.