Spectrum customers across the country lost access to ESPN and a whole host of other Disney-owned channels at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, just as the big Week 1 matchup between Utah and Florida was set to kick off.
Spectrum and Disney came into Thursday with a deadline of 5:00 p.m. ET to come to a new agreement after the service provider and media giant disagreed on fee hikes. The deadline passed without an interruption to channels like ESPN, but right as the game was meant to start, that changed.
So what now for Spectrum customers who want to watch the Pac-12 vs. SEC action?
How to watch Utah vs. Florida on ESPN without Spectrum
Your best bet to tune in is to head over to a cable-cutting option like Fubo TV. Use their free trial to watch on Thursday while the dispute between Spectrum and ESPN is ongoing.
Sling TV, YouTube TV and Hulu+Live Sports are also options.
It sucks that college football fans are caught in the middle of a feud like this on the eve of college football. If a deal isn't struck, this outage could impact games all weekend on ESPN and its family of networks.
In the meantime, it's a good thing there are alternatives on streaming. Most Utes and Gators should be able to find a way to tune in before long.
Last year, Florida bested Utah in Gainesville, but the 2023 edition of the game moves to Salt Lake City where the Utes have a formidable home field advantage. However, they will be playing without quarterback Cam Rising, who is not fully recovered from the ACL injury he suffered in the Rose Bowl. Meanwhile, the Gators will get their first look at transfer quarterback Graham Mertz, who has inspired the hype train even before the season kicked off.