Jason Kelce’s Monday Night Football debut missed by millions of ESPN viewers as DirecTV-Disney blackout continues

DIRECTV and ESPN’s ongoing dispute has spelled bad news for millions of NFL fans.

The Week 1 Monday Night Football matchup featuring the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets will mark Jason Kelce ‘s long-awaited ESPN debut.

ESPN

ESPN

However, Kelce’s Monday Night Countdown bow isn’t available for the approximately 11 million DirecTV users nationwide, according to Axios .

This is due to the ongoing dispute between DirecTV’s parent company Charter, and ESPN’s owners Disney.

As happened a year ago, DirecTV has been left without ESPN and ABC networks after the parent companies failed to reach an agreement on a new distribution deal.

This blackout first began on September 1, just 10 minutes ahead of kickoff between USC and LSU .

Since then, DirecTV viewers have been unable to watch the latter stages of the US Open as well as college football , and now the NFL.

Unfortunately for NFL fans hoping for an end to the blackout in the near future, the outlook appears bleak.

On Saturday, a complaint was filed against Disney by DirecTV to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as per CNN .

“Disney has violated the FCC’s good faith mandates by predicating any licensing agreement on DirecTV’s waiving any legal claims on Disney’s past, current, or future anticompetitive actions, including its ongoing packaging and minimum penetration demands,” a spokesperson for DirecTV told the outlet.

In response, Disney said on Sunday that they were continuing “to negotiate with DirecTV to restore access to our content as quickly as possible.

“We urge DirecTV to stop creating diversions and instead prioritize their customers by finalizing a deal that would allow their subscribers to watch our strong upcoming lineup of sports, news and entertainment programming, starting with the return of Monday Night Football.”

In the wake of the dispute, NFL fans have seemingly flocked to YouTube TV to ensure their viewership is not disrupted.

Ahead of Kelce’s debut, ESPN colleague and fellow NFL veteran Dan Orlovsky called on fans to make such a switch away from DirecTV.

“I’d wanna be sure to watch Kelce on Countdown @DIRECTV subscribers, don’t miss Monday Night Football on @espn as the Jets take on the Niners at 8P on @espn… Take action now and sign up for @hulu, @sling, @YouTubeTV or @fuboTV,” he tweeted .

Following his retirement from the NFL in March, Kelce signed a three-year deal with ESPN worth $1.8 million annually.

The deal also included a $1 million signing bonus.

Kicking off his first broadcast alongside co-hosts Scott Van Pelt, Ryan Clark, and Marcus Spears, Kelce revealed his first day on set was a rough one.

Having left his travel bag in the truck, Kelce was forced to rush out to a local mall to buy a white shirt.

Unfortunately for the six-time All-Pro center, while the shirt fit around his stomach, he admitted that it was a little tight on the chest.

“Fits my belly now I’ve lost a little bit of weight, but my t**s are still struggling,” he joked.

The 49ers and Jets are scheduled to kick off at 8:15pm ET.

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