ESPN took a $110 million hit last fall due to the YouTube TV Blackout
Disney is estimated to have lost about $4.3 million per day during the YouTube TV blackout last fall, according to one Wall Street analyst. In fact, the carriage fight cost the Mouse House much more than that.
The 15-day blackout of the ESPN networks on Google’s YouTube TV resulted in a $110 million decline in ESPN’s operating income for the end of the year. That amounts to a loss of more than $7 million per day for ESPN alone. Disney announced this when announcing its quarter-end earnings.
The ABC and Disney entertainment TV networks also suffered a drop in revenue due to the YouTube TV blackout, but the company did not quantify that. In fact, Disney will no longer report revenue or operating income for its linear TV business as of the December 2025 quarter, the media conglom’s first quarter of fiscal 2026.
During the YouTube TV blackout, ESPN and other Disney nets went dark on their Internet service just before midnight ET on Thursday, October 30. The dispute was largely over price increases that Disney was seeking. The two sides finally reached an agreement on the restoration of the canals on November 14.
Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said during the company’s Nov. 13 earnings call that regarding “the dollar impact” of the YouTube TV blackout, while Disney did indeed lose money because its networks were unavailable on the streamer, it gained additional revenue “as subscribers moved elsewhere.”
It’s likely that YouTube TV’s two-week blackout has prompted some subscribers to sign up for ESPN Unlimited, the streamer that includes everything from ESPN’s networks and services for the first time. But Disney hasn’t detailed ESPN Unlimited subscribers or revenue.
With the launch of ESPN Unlimited in August, Disney initially offered a bundle with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Unlimited for $29.99/month for the first twelve months – the same price as the standalone version of ESPN Unlimited. According to Disney, 80% of ESPN Unlimited customers took the three-way bundle in the September 2025 quarter, which isn’t surprising considering the promo offer’s deep discount. (The Disney+/Hulu/ESPN bundle now starts at $35.99/month.)
For the 2025 quarter end, total revenue for ESPN was $4.9 billion, up 1%. Sports segment operating income was $191 million, down 23% year over year. According to Disney, ESPN’s 10% advertising revenue growth was more than offset by higher programming and production costs and a reduction in subscription and affiliate fees, including the loss of revenue due to the YouTube TV blackout.
According to Disney, by the end of 2025, ESPN captured more than 30% of all network sports viewership, including through ESPN on ABC programming, a leading share.
Separately, Disney and the NFL confirmed Saturday that they have reached a deal that gives the NFL a 10% ownership stake in ESPN, which in return will gain control of NFL Network and the popular NFL RedZone highlights service. Disney has licensed the rights to operate NFL Network and NFL RedZone through 2033.
Disney’s NFL deal has an estimated fair value of $3 billion, according to the media company’s quarterly 10-Q filing Monday with the SEC. After July 2034, based on the performance of the NFL assets, Disney may have the right to reacquire the NFL’s interest in ESPN in exchange for a ten-year security at 70% of the then fair market value of the NFL’s interest in ESPN. Alternatively, the NFL may have the right to acquire an additional equity interest of up to 4% in ESPN at a purchase price equal to 70% of ESPN’s then fair market value.
With the NFL deal, Disney now has an effective 72% stake in ESPN. Hearst owns 18% and NFL Enterprises LLC owns 10%.
