DirecTV customers have fewer viewing options available after channels owned by the Walt Disney Company went dark in the wake of a carriage dispute between the media giant and the satellite-TV provider.

If you’re a sports fan, this is extra bad news considering Disney’s ABC affiliates and ESPN will be broadcasting numerous football games in the weeks ahead. Here’s what you need to know about the blackout.

What’s happened?

On Sunday, Disney’s ABC affiliates and cable channels disappeared from DirecTV services because the company couldn’t come to a carriage agreement with DirecTV. In the television world, a carriage agreement is an agreement between a content provider and a cable service to broadcast the content provider’s shows and channels.

In short, the carriage dispute comes down to money. Disney feels DirecTV isn’t offering the company what its content is worth. DirecTV disagrees. When their old carriage contract expired, and without a new one in place, Disney’s channels vanished from the DirecTV lineup.

Carriage disputes have long plagued the pay-television business, and it’s not uncommon for blackouts to occur around the time of popular live-sporting events, when the stakes for customers are higher. This time last year, Disney was in a similar dispute with cable-TV provider Spectrum.

What channels are affected?

All Disney-owned channels are affected. This includes the ABC network, which is owned by Disney. Thus DirecTV customers no longer have access to their local ABC affiliates.

As far as cable channels go, DirecTV has lost access to ESPN, Freeform, Disney Channel, Disney Junior Disney XD, FX, National Geographic, and more.

And if you’re a DirecTV customer who also happens to be a sports fan, things are even worse.

Why is this bad for sports fans?

College football season is already underway, and the NFL’s season starts this Thursday. Many college football and NFL games are broadcast on ABC and ESPN.

This means that if you usually watch those games via your DirecTV subscription, you’ll need to find an alternate way to view them—that is, unless Disney and DirecTV can come to an agreement soon.

What has DirecTV said?

DirecTV has used some harsh words against Disney.

In a press release, Rob Thun, chief content officer at DIRECTV, said, “The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system. Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your way and must answer for your own actions. They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers—making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.”

The release went on to state just how little Disney programming DirecTV customers actually watch: “On average, only two-thirds of DIRECTV customers watch a combined three hours or more across the entire suite of 16 Disney channels, which includes local ABC stations. Yet the outgoing agreement obligates nearly all of our customers to pay for the full slate of Disney channels that at least a third of our customers have shown little interest.” 

What has Disney said?

Disney didn’t mince words either. The cochairs of Disney Entertainment, Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, and the chairman of ESPN, Jimmy Pitaro, issued a joint statement:

“DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the US Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season. While we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve. We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming.”

I’m a DirecTV customer. What can I do?

Well, you can do what Disney wants you to do, which is to complain directly to DirecTV. It has set up a website that directs people to DirecTV’s social media channels and customer support.

DirecTV, on the other hand, has set up an online tool that allows you to enter your zip code and tells you alternate ways you can watch football games should a new carriage agreement not be reached. The same web tool also has links customers can follow to receive a credit worth $20 to compensate for the loss in service.

When will Disney and DirecTV resolve their dispute?

That is anyone’s guess. We’ve reached out to both companies to ask about a timeline and if there has been any progress.