The dispute between YouTube TV and Disney has entered its fourth day. Tonight, millions of YouTube TV customers won’t be able to quickly and easily access Monday Night Football, in the way they usually do.
And while there are other ways to get access to the Cardinals-Cowboys game, the challenge becomes finding a way that delivers it instantly and seamlessly through the corn maze of apps on smart TVs.
Currently, we’ve all figured out the basic pathways to get what we want, when we want it. Work the remote, pick the square, press the button, and go.
Tonight, it’s going to take extra effort. It may result in added expense. It could force people to pull the plug on YouTube TV for some other service.
Of course, cancelling your YouTube TV account may complicate access to NFL Sunday Ticket, especially if the out-of-market package was purchased with the reduced price that comes from having an existing YouTube TV subscription.
And then there’s the ability to go old school, using an antenna and pull the ABC signal from the air.
However it goes, it will be a pain in the ass. And it’s an avoidable one.
Still, neither Google nor Disney seem to care. They each want to win this corporate tug-of-war, and they’re willing to deprive consumers of NFL football until that happens.
Which brings us to the NFL. The league has a clear incentive, if not an obligation, to take care of its fans. And the league should mobilize to pressure both sides to get something done — even if it’s as simple as allowing Monday Night Football to be streamed by YouTube TV tonight, while the fight otherwise lingers.
The NFL has a business relationship with both parties. YouTube streamed a game in September, and it surely hopes to have more. The NFL will, if the deal is approved by the government, own 10 percent of ESPN.
When the league wants something from one of its partners, it has no qualms about picking up the phone and asking for it — if not demanding it. It will do that right now, if the NFL truly cares about its fans.
It would be very nice for someone to care about the fans. Google doesn’t. Disney doesn’t. Does the NFL?
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