Don’t Black Out the Caps, YouTube and Hulu!
Half a million households at risk of losing access to Caps hockey as carriage disputes heat up.
Washington Capitals fans are staring down the barrel of a potential blackout—and they’re not having it. With hockey season about to fire up, SFC just dropped a public letter to YouTube TV and Hulu and Monumental Sports Network with a crystal-clear message:
We don’t need the theatrics. We need the games!
Every few years, video distribution companies and programmers play a game of chicken over carriage deals. It’s not uncommon, however tech big streaming platforms like YouTube and Hulu have completely shifted the paradigm. For now, the fallout lands squarely on Caps fans.
At stake? Hundreds of thousands of households across the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) region who rely on YouTube TV and Hulu to watch their beloved Caps. That’s right: half a million families across the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region who count on YouTube TV and Hulu to watch the Caps. If the deal collapses, those screens go dark the moment before the puck drops.
This isn’t just a contract dispute. It’s a tradition at risk. Generations of DMV fans tune in every season to watch their games. While the platforms may have changed, the family rituals haven’t.
The Ask: A Standstill Agreement
Last week, SFC sent a letter to Google, Disney, and Monumental Sports asking all three companies to come to a standstill agreement – keep the signal on while they negotiate terms.
This means:
Freeze the terms.
Keep the games on.
Negotiate without punishing fans.
Monumental Sports already agreed to the standstill over the weekend. The puck is in your zone, Google and Disney.
Will you stand on the side of fans, or will you stand against us?
Fights belong on the ice, not in corporate boardrooms. Take Action now!
This isn’t complicated. Caps hockey belongs in living rooms across the DMV—not in the crossfire of corporate brinksmanship
Freeze the terms. Keep the games on. Negotiate like grown-ups.
Because hockey belongs to the fans. It’s time the platforms remembered that. Fill this form to send a letter to your lawmakers demanding they help the fans and make sure the games stay on YouTube TV and Hulu!