As YouTube prepares to air an exclusive NFL opening week game for free on September 5th, it’s hiring former Disney exec Justin Connolly. The move has caused Disney to respond by suing both YouTube and Connolly, saying he was in the middle of leading the team negotiating Disney’s license renewal with YouTube.
He’d most recently been running the streaming services and linear media networks at Disney, and will take over as YouTube’s new global head of media and sports, as first reported by Bloomberg. After spending more than 20 years at Disney and ESPN, he’ll be managing YouTube’s relationship with the media companies that distribute content on YouTube TV, as well as leading its live sports coverage.
Bloomberg also first reported the lawsuit filed yesterday in California Superior Court, as Disney alleges that YouTube induced Connolly to breach a three-year employment contract that started in January and would’ve kept him there as an executive until an early termination option for March 1st, 2027. Connolly left Disney last week, just months before the launch of its standalone ESPN streaming service this fall.
In its complaint (which you can read below), Disney’s lawyers write:
Critically, Connolly leads the Disney team negotiating a license renewal with YouTube. Connolly has intimate knowledge of Disney’s other distribution deals, the financial details concerning Disney’s content being licensed to YouTube, and Disney’s negotiation strategies, both in general and in particular with respect to YouTube. It would be extremely prejudicial to Disney for Connolly to breach the contract which he negotiated just a few months ago and switch teams when Disney is working on a new licensing deal with the company that is trying to poach him.
YouTube did not comment on the lawsuit.
YouTube has become a growing force in live sports, with its live TV streaming service amassing more than 8 million subscribers and adding the NFL Sunday Ticket package in 2023. The platform will also. Earlier this year, YouTube revealed that it has become more popular on TVs than phones.
Other streaming companies have also increased their focus on sports recently, with Amazon preparing to broadcast NBA games and Inside the NBA next season, Apple’s close relationship with MLB and MLS, as well as Netflix’s broadcasts with the NFL and other events.
Update, May 22nd: Added details of Disney’s lawsuit.