The Big 12 Conference urged fans to voice their concerns about the YouTube TV and Disney programming dispute. Disney pulled ESPN and ABC content from YouTube TV after the companies failed to reach a new agreement before the October 30 deadline.
“Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to reach a fair deal, and starting today, Disney programming will not be available on YouTube TV,” YouTube TV said in a social media statement.
The conference jumped into the dispute with its own public message.
“If you are a YouTube TV customer, you no longer have access to your favorite Big 12 games and programming on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS,” the Big 12 wrote on X. “Fans take action and keep watching by visiting https://KeepMyNetworks.com.”
Big 12 fans, if you are a YouTube TV customer, you no longer have access to your favorite Big 12 games and programming on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS.
Fans take action and keep watching by visiting https://t.co/W2oFGBj72r
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 31, 2025
YouTube TV had signaled trouble ahead one week earlier. The streaming service said Disney proposed “costly economic terms that would raise prices on YouTube TV customers and give our customers fewer choices.”
The timing creates additional pressure given the Big 12’s broadcast commitments.
ESPN and FOX signed a six-year $2.28 billion contract with the Big 12 three years ago. The deal provides around $50 million per year to each conference school.
The Big 12’s current deal expires in 2031. That’s one year after the Big Ten’s record-setting 7-year, $7 billion agreement ends, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
The conference positioned itself strategically with the contract timing.
“Notably for the Big 12 moving forward, the contract comes up before the SEC (2034) and ACC (2036) deals expire. This extension will mark the end of what’s known as third-tier rights for the Big 12, in which schools controlled certain game inventory. Instead, those third-tier rights will be distributed to ESPN, which means the schools no longer have to sell them.”
The dispute leaves YouTube TV subscribers without access to Big 12 games during a critical part of the college football season. Conference officials clearly want fans to pressure the streaming service to resolve the disagreement quickly.
