Kirby Smart reveals how YouTube TV vs. ESPN dispute has disrupted his life: 'I have to find ways around it'

Turns out even SEC football coaches have been impacted by the ongoing carriage dispute between Disney and Google‘s popular streaming service YouTube TV, which enters its third full week with all ABC and ESPN channels blacked out at midnight Thursday. But for Georgia‘s Kirby Smart, that’s a problem he leaves at home.

“No, I can’t (worry about it), I’ve got way too many things occupying my worries over that (carriage dispute),” Smart said Wednesday during the SEC’s weekly coaches teleconference. “I worry more about it when I get home and I can’t watch (ABC and ESPN), so I have to find ways around it. But that’s what most people have to do, I guess, until they figure it out.”

The ongoing carriage dispute has been particularly costly for YouTube TV customers within the SEC footprint, who have missed out on the last two weekends of SEC on both ABC and ESPN’s additional channels like ESPN2 and the SEC Network.

If there’s no resolution before this weekend, YouTube TV customers will also be unable to watch Week 12’s much-anticipated Top 10 showdown between No. 5 Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) and No. 10 Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC) in Athens, which will kickoff at 7:30 pm ET on ABC.

YouTube TV, ESPN ‘remain far apart’ in ongoing carriage dispute

Last week, The Athletic‘s Andrew Marchand revealed both Disney and Google “remain far apart” in their ongoing carriage negotiations, according to Awful Announcing. That comes even after ESPN personalities engaged in a coordinated pressure campaign on X/Twitter over the past week.

“When these deals turn from stalemate to an agreement, it happens quickly,” Marchand wrote, according to Awful Announcing. “But there is pessimism at the moment, leaving 10 million YouTube TV subscribers to decide when and where to find alternatives for a second straight weekend.”

And it appears the sticking point isn’t even the ESPN family of channels, it’s Disney’s price increase to carry ABC, according to Awful Announcing. This week, a YouTube TV spokesperson told Awful Announcing that Disney and Google are in alignment about the price for ESPN. The biggest issue revolves around Disney’s alleged suggestion that more live sports and other events airing on ABC should be worth a higher rate. Meanwhile, YouTube TV and other providers have argued that Disney is in fact double-dipping, with many programs such as the NFL’s Monday Night Football are often simulcast on ESPN as well.

It’s been an expensive battle for both sides too. Disney is reportedly losing about $5 million per day and roughly $30 million a week thanks to being off YouTube TV’s popular streaming platform. Meanwhile, YouTube TV has been lose subscribers to other television streaming service and has already been forced to offer a $20 credit to subscribers that remain.

— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.