Walt Disney Co. shut down ESPN and other DirecTV channels on Sunday, minutes before kickoff of a high-profile USC football game and during the U.S. Open tennis tournament – to the anger of sports fans who were in the midst of a bitter contract dispute.

More than 10 million DirecTV and U-Verse video customers were drawn into the dispute when DirecTV lost the rights to broadcast Disney programming, including Disney-owned ABC television stations.

The two companies had been negotiating for weeks at DirecTV headquarters in El Segundo, but were unable to agree on a new licensing agreement by the September 1 deadline.

The ban is the latest sign of the strain on traditional TV broadcasters as their customers switch to streaming.

“Consumers will blame someone, but really both companies had to put themselves in this situation,” Ross Benes, senior analyst at Emarketer, said recently.

Here’s what you should know about the dispute:

Why does this happen?

Pay-TV providers like DirecTV have seen dramatic increases in the cost of licensing programming as their customer bases have shrunk due to cable cancellations. TV providers are struggling to make money from their video channels and fear that big price increases will only drive away more customers.

The cost of carrying television networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) and sports channels such as ESPN has skyrocketed as broadcasters seek to pass on the price increases they have promised to sports leagues and conferences. These price increases must increasingly be borne by the shrinking number of traditional pay-TV subscribers.

DirecTV asked Disney for flexibility to offer smaller, genre-specific packages. Disney has long required pay-TV companies to carry its cable channels, including ESPN, in the homes of most of its customers. ESPN is the most expensive basic cable channel, costing providers nearly $10 per month per subscriber household.

This has led to one of the most sensitive points in the current dispute: Disney’s “minimum penetration” requirements for its channels, including ESPN. Disney requires that ESPN be broadcast to about 82 percent of DirecTV subscribers.

Minimum penetration has allowed Disney to collect huge fees over the years, even from subscribers who don’t watch much sports. Pay-TV companies have to pay penalties if they don’t meet the minimum threshold.

DirecTV argues that it is unfair to burden these subscribers with the high cost of sports programming, since less than 40% of its customers regularly watch Disney sports content. Disney counters that the company has invested heavily in high-quality programming and has offered its channels, including ESPN, to DirecTV at market prices.

DirecTV is trying to lower these penetration rates and reduce the fees it has to pay if it doesn’t meet the threshold.

DirecTV satellite dishes in Culver City.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The satellite provider also points out that only 10% of its customers regularly watch children’s programs, but more than 80% of its subscribers pay for these channels.

In addition, DirecTV and other distributors have also chafed at efforts by Disney and other entertainment giants to build their own streaming services that compete with their longtime partners, the pay-TV companies. Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corp. teamed up this year to build a sports streaming service called Venu as an alternative to companies like DirecTV. The effort was challenged in court, and a federal judge in New York issued a temporary restraining order temporarily blocking Venu from launching.

How long will this dispute last?

That is unclear.

A year ago, a similar dispute between Disney and Charter Communications, the operator of the Spectrum service, lasted twelve days.

Following that bitter battle, Charter dropped some smaller Disney-owned channels, including Freeform, and won the right to offer Disney streaming services, including Disney+, as part of its package. But the outage proved costly for Charter, which lost more subscribers than expected.

The suspension ended just as ESPN’s first Monday Night Football game of the season began.

Usually a dispute ends when both sides feel the economic consequences.

“There’s always a lot at stake,” Benes said. “But if (DirecTV) runs out of ESPN channels in the next three months, that’s going to lead to even more cable cancellations. That could be another nail in the coffin.”

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is expected to return for a “Monday Night Football” game on Sept. 9 after tearing his left Achilles tendon during the New York Jets’ season opener last year.

(Adam Hunger/Associated Press)

Which programs could be affected?

Customers living in cities where a Disney-owned ABC television station, such as KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles, can be expected to experience interruptions to some of their favorite shows, including “Good Morning America,” “Jeopardy” and local newscasts. Disney owns eight ABC stations, including those in San Francisco, Fresno, New York, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and Raleigh-Durham.

Right now, it’s sports fans who are feeling the pain. College football fans are still upset about missing Sunday’s clash between USC and Louisiana State University, in which the 23rd-ranked Trojans pulled off a thrilling last-minute victory over the 13th-ranked Tigers.

ESPN owns the rights to the US Open tennis tournament, which is in the final rounds of men’s and women’s quarterfinals and semifinals, with the finals taking place this weekend.

College football also plays a big role on ABC and ESPN.

Monday Night Football on ESPN and ABC kicks off with a high-profile matchup between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers, two markets served by ABC-owned networks. The game is expected to feature the return of Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who suffered a season-ending injury in last year’s MNF opener.

“World News Tonight with David Muir” is one of ABC’s programs.

(Heidi Gutman / ABC News)

ABC will also host the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump on September 10. However, the debate will also be broadcast by other networks.

The Disney-owned network is also broadcasting the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards show on September 15, so millions of customers will not be able to watch the TV fan fest – hosted by father-son comedy duo Eugene and Dan Levy – if the dispute drags on for two weeks.

Is there a workaround?

Viewers can receive ABC signals via a digital antenna. But that doesn’t help viewers of Disney cable channels ESPN, ESPN2, Disney Channel, FX or National Geographic.

Competing services offering Disney’s cable channels include YouTube TV, Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV (owned by Disney), FuboTV, and traditional cable and satellite providers including Charter Spectrum, Cox Communications, Comcast and Dish Networks.

Can I get a refund?

Yes, sort of. DirecTV is offering its customers a $20 credit as compensation for the outage. Customers must request the credit on a subsequent bill.