The veteran media guy found himself amidst the crossfire. While sports have continued to hold their true essence for a long time, the media that broadcast it has an ever-changing landscape. Months after Stephen A. Smith & Co. received a ton of backlash over TNT’s exit from the NBA, the senior analyst has found himself in another trouble. This time with much more furious fans at his doorstep.

In the last few days, loyal sports fans were left to scratch their heads because of the ongoing battle between Disney and DirecTV. In the latest disagreement related to carrier fees, DirecTV has cut its ties with Disney, which is also a mother company for sports channels like ESPN+ and ABC. Moreover, the growing exasperation with fans is because of three main reasons. This blockade will result in fans missing the last week of the US Open, college football, and week 1 of the NFL.

Amid this tense situation, Stephen A. Smith dropped an X post that further stirred up the fans’ fury. The 56-year-old wrote, “Hey, if you are a @DIRECTV subscriber and don’t have access to the game on @espn and want to see it, visit http://keepmynetworks.com for information about where you can get it. Fans, if you don’t have access to @espn, YOU HAVE CHOICES! Take action now and sign up for @fubotv, @hulu, @sling, @YouTubeTV.”

While Stephen A. Smith attempted to facilitate the fans to view the content without any hassle, it backfired badly. It’s indeed a mistake to touch a pot when it’s piping hot. Nevertheless, it’s already late and Smith has paid the price for it.

The DirecTV disaster throws Stephen A. Smith under the bus

This disaster brought out the best storytellers in the fans. This fan linked the tussle between DirecTV and Disney to a political affair. They wrote, “The DIRECTV thing is a scam so people can’t watch the debate and watch Kamala Harris get absolutely destroyed!! that’s exactly what it is!” 

Another fan put up a straight question back to Smith after he directed the fans to look for other alternatives if they can’t access ESPN. They wrote, “Why do Inhave to look for other options when I am paying for ESPN+?! Why can’t ESPN programming be included?” It’s a valid question for which even Disney is looking for an answer. Moreover, another fan gave a gentle warning to the carrier, saying, “We got Sling for a month. Direct TV has to stop messing with its customers!” 

Moreover, it isn’t just the football fans who showed frustration in the heat of the moment, but also the NBA fans. In addition to Adam Silver’s decision to give up on TNT, fans have taken the DirecTV disaster more emotionally. A fan even expressed his frustration saying, “Y’all are all greedy scumbags.”

In the meantime, another helpless fan put out his frustration, saying, “Who at fault ABC/Disney or Directv because this is madness and my local ABC affiliate isn’t owned by Mickey Mouse… frustration-ugh.” It’s not far until the NBA opens its new season, then it could become an added headache to the media world. Will this disaster end before the start of the new season? Let us know in the comments.

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.