Disney is giving football fans plenty of places to watch the Super Bowl. Some of the station owners helping pay for that privilege would like a word.

ABC affiliates are frustrated with the company’s expanding distribution plans for the NFL’s biggest game. With viewers getting more options, local broadcasters fear their share of the audience could shrink, taking valuable advertising dollars with it.

ABC Affiliates Raise Concerns About Disney’s Super Bowl Plans

According to CNBC, ABC station owners are “irritated” by Disney’s decision to spread Super Bowl coverage across ABC, ESPN, Disney+, ESPN2, ESPNU and NFL Network.

One station group executive put the complaint in blunt financial terms.

“Any time you fragment distribution, you’re destroying value for each of the individual platforms,”the CEO told CNBC. “I don’t have a problem with what Disney is doing — I have a problem that there’s no acknowledgment that we’re losing money.”

CNBC withheld the executive’s name because of concerns about potential retribution.

The possible hit is substantial. A station group CEO estimated that local advertising revenue tied to the game could fall by as much as 35% compared with last year. That executive requested anonymity because the analysis was private.

That figure remains a projection. The game has yet to be played, and the eventual audience split will determine how those concerns hold up.

Still, station owners have reason to watch those numbers closely. A viewer choosing another feed can still count toward the Super Bowl’s overall audience while doing little for the local ABC station selling commercials around its coverage.

The frustration adds another issue to ESPN’s preparations, which already include thereported tension between Troy Aikman and Joe Buck.

Why More Viewing Options Create a Problem for Local Stations

The money trail helps explain the irritation.

As CNBC outlined, Disney spends billions on sports rights and seeks payments from affiliates to help cover those costs. Those stations, in turn, negotiate fees with pay-TV providers for carrying their channels.

Access to the Super Bowl has historically helped make that package attractive. When the same game becomes available through numerous other outlets, affiliates have more competition for the viewers who make their broadcasts valuable.

Disney has confirmed that Super Bowl LXI will air on Feb. 14, 2027, with Disney+ carrying ESPN’s first Super Bowl production alongside ABC and ESPN. Its announcement also highlighted that ABC and ESPN had already sold out commercial inventory in August.

That national sales milestone offers little reassurance to a station owner worried about local advertising revenue. The executive’s complaint makes clear that acknowledging the potential loss matters, even if Disney keeps its distribution plans intact.

Fans get more choices for their Super Bowl parties. Local station owners are left calculating how many of those parties will still have ABC on the television.