DirecTV announced Saturday it had reached a deal with Walt Disney Co. that will restore ESPN and ABC-owned stations to its service after a nearly 2-week dispute that blacked out those networks for millions of viewers across the U.S.

The end of the impasse came in time for sports fans to watch ESPN’s slate of college football games on DirecTV. It also will ensure that ABC’s telecast of the Emmy Awards on Sunday night will be available in more major markets where viewers subscribe to DirecTV’s pay service.

ABC had been unavailable since Sept. 1 on DirecTV in several markets where the station is owned by Disney. Those were located in the San Francisco Bay Area; Fresno, California; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; and Raleigh, North Carolina.

DirecTV’s 11 million subscribers abruptly lost access to ESPN, the ABC-owned stations and other Disney-owned channels such as FX and National Geographic during the Labor Day weekend in a dispute over carriage fees and programming flexibility.

Some viewers were watching the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament when ESPN suddenly went dark and others were getting ready to watch a college football showdown between LSU and Southern California.

The impasse also kept the NFL’s opening game of Monday Night Football off of DirecTV’s service.

Financial details of Disney’s new deal with DirecTV weren’t disclosed as part of Saturday’s announcement. DirecTV’s payments to Disney will be based on “market-based” pricing, according to the announcement about the deal.

The agreement also will give DirecTV the ability to offer Disney’s video streaming services a la carte as well as in its own bundled packages. DirecTV won the right to include ESPN’s forthcoming direct-to-consumer streaming service at an additional cost to its subscribers once it becomes available.

The deal came a few days after the rising tensions led DirecTV to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission accusing Disney of negotiating in bad faith.

This is the second consecutive year Disney’s wrangling over the rights to its programming has resulted in its networks gong dark on a pay-TV service. Last year, Disney pulled its channels from Spectrum — the second largest cable-TV provider in the U.S. — for 12 days before settling the dispute just before ESPN was set to show that season’s Monday Night Football opener.

The Cal Bears host the San Diego State Aztecs tonight for Week 3 of the NCAA college football season. The Bears come into the weekend undefeated, while the Aztecs are 1-1 after losing to Oregon State last week.

Keep reading to find out how and when to watch the San Diego State vs. Cal game, even if you don’t have cable.

How and when to watch the San Diego State vs. Cal game tonight

The San Diego State vs. Cal game will be played on Saturday, September 14, 2024 at 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. PT). The college football game will air on ESPN, and stream on Fubo and the platforms featured below.

How and when to watch the San Diego State vs. Cal game without cable

While many cable packages include ESPN it’s easy to watch the game if ESPN isn’t included in your cable TV subscription, or if you don’t have cable at all. Your best options for watching are below. (Streaming options will require an internet provider.)

Watch the San Diego State vs. Cal game free with FuboTV

Live TV streaming service Fubo offers the same top-tier programming you can get from your local cable provider at a fraction of the price. The streamer is a sports fan’s dream considering the sheer volume of live sporting events you can watch on it.

Fubo packages include access to college football games airing on your local CBS affiliate, SEC Network, Big Ten Network and ESPNU. There are plenty of channels for NFL fans, including “NFL on Fox,” “Sunday Night Football” on NBC, “Monday Night Football” on ABC and ESPN, and all games aired on NFL Network. 

If you want to give Fubo a try, now’s a great time to do so: Fubo is currently offering $30 off your first month of any subscription tier. That means you can watch every NFL and college football game airing on network TV this week starting at just $49.99 after a seven-day free trial. Once you subscribe, you can begin watching immediately on your TV, phone, tablet or computer.

Top features of Fubo:

• There are no contracts with Fubo. You can cancel at any time.
• Fubo offers a seven-day free trial for every pricing tier.
• The Pro ($49.99 first month, $79.99 thereafter) tier includes over 200 channels, including channels not available on some other live TV streaming services.
• Upgrade to 4K resolution with the Elite with Sports Plus tier ($69.99 first month, $99.99 thereafter). It features 299 channels, including NFL RedZone.
• Fubo also offers live MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and international soccer games. 
• All tiers now come with unlimited cloud-based DVR recording.
• You can watch on up to 10 screens at once with any Fubo plan.
• Stream on your TV, phone, tablet and other devices.

Sling TV: The most cost-effective way to stream college football

If you don’t have cable TV that includes ESPN, one of the most cost-effective ways to stream college football this season is through a subscription to Sling TV. We suggest leveling up your coverage to the Orange + Blue with Sports Extra tier to get more NFL and college football games this fall.

The Orange + Blue plan regularly costs $60 per month, but the streamer currently offers a $25 off promotion for your first month, so you’ll pay just $35. The Orange + Blue with Sports Extra plan is $50 for your first month and $75 per month after. The Sports Extra add-on features 18 channels, including NFL Redzone, ESPNU, SEC Network, Big 10 Network and ACC Network, making it ideal for pro and college football fans.

The streamer is also currently offering big savings on four months of the Orange + Blue tier plus the Sports Extra plan when you prepay for the Sling TV Season Pass. The plan costs $219, reduced from $300.

Note: Because Sling TV does not carry CBS, Sling subscribers will want to add Paramount+ to their bundle. (Paramount+ and CBS Essentials are both subsidiaries of Paramount Global.)

Top features of Sling TV Orange + Blue plan:

• Sling TV is our top choice for streaming major sporting events like NASCAR.
• There are 52 channels to watch in total, including local ESPN, NBC, Fox and ABC affiliates (where available).
• You get access to most local NFL games and nationally broadcast games at the lowest price.
• All subscription tiers include 50 hours of cloud-based DVR storage.
• You can add Golf Channel, NBA TV, NHL Network, NFL RedZone, MLB Network, Tennis Channel and more sports-oriented channels (18 in total) via Sling TV’s Sports Extras add-on.

Watch the San Diego State vs. Cal game on Hulu + Live TV

You can watch college football, including ESPN, with Hulu + Live TV. The bundle features access to 90 channels, including both Fox and FS1. Unlimited DVR storage is also included. Watch every game on every network with Hulu + Live TV, plus catch live NFL preseason games, exclusive live regular season games, popular studio shows (including NFL Total Access and the Emmy-nominated show Good Morning Football) and lots more.

Hulu + Live TV comes bundled with ESPN+ and Disney+ for $77 per month after a three-day free trial.

If you’re anxiously waiting for today’s game to begin, now is a great time to check out Amazon’s college football fan shop. The Amazon College Fan Shop is filled to the brim with officially licensed fan gear: You’ll find jerseys, team flags, T-shirts, hoodies and more, including tons of great gear for the football fan in your life. There are plenty of great deals awaiting you at Amazon, too, including some must-see deals on TVs for watching sports.

Tap the button below to head directly to the College Fan Shop page on Amazon and select your favorite team.

What is the San Diego State Aztecs current team ranking?

The Aztecs are currently ranked No. 98 out of 134 teams, according to our sister site CBS Sports.

What is the Cal Golden Bears current team ranking?

The Bears are currently ranked No. 34 out of 134 teams, according to CBS Sports.

When is the 2024 NCAA college football championship game?

The College Football Playoff National Championship will be Monday, January 20, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Veterans Village of San Diego will not appeal a state decision to revoke its license to operate a residential substance use treatment center on its campus, the Board of Directors announced following its Friday afternoon meeting.

The move ends VVSD’s service to non-veterans at its Mission Hills campus.

The California Department of Health Care Services on Sept. 5 notified the nonprofit that it was suspending the program and would revoke its license, and VVSD had 15 days to appeal. The suspension of the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System program, which provides substance use disorder treatment for eligible Medi-Cal members, went into effect Monday.

The program had been at VVSD since 2019, and most of the 76 clients were non-veterans who had been referred by San Diego County Behavioral Health Services.

“We embarked on the DMC (Drug Medi-Cal) program with a bold vision: to extend our world-renowned treatment approach to civilians in need,” the VVSD board said in a statement released Friday. “We undertook this mission amidst an unprecedented surge in fentanyl use, reaching out to the most vulnerable members of our community with crucial support. As we move forward, we proudly refocus our efforts on our core mission — dedicated service to our nation’s heroes.”

Tessa Outhyse, information officer for the California Department of Health Care Services, said the state has revoked the license or certification of five other residential substance use disorder facilities in the past three years.

The California Department of Health Care Services had cited “serious concerns about client safety” and the deaths of seven clients in its notice to VVSD and its program.

VVSD President and CEO Akilah Templeton said the news was devastating to staff members who had worked with clients and now fear they may relapse or return to the street. County staff members were on hand Monday to place people in new programs, but VVSD counselors said they are in the dark about what happened to them.

“I know that on that first day, so many of our residents just left and went back out to the street, just going back to using,” said Meghan Ripley, a program manager who worked with clients.

“And it just breaks my heart, because they were doing so well here,” she continued, fighting back tears as she remembered the program’s last day. “It was so sad. I had clients coming up to me crying, begging me to let them stay, like I had any control over it. Begging, saying that they would come up with the money to be able to pay out of pocket just to be able to stay here because they were safe here. And then they just lost all hope and left.”

“It was so swift, the way they came down,” said clinical associate Isaac Salas, also in tears. “It was so traumatic for everyone involved. It was just devastating. The population we work with, they’re already a bunch of traumatized people. They already have a lot going on. And the way that they handled this, it was inhumane.”

Founded in 1981 to serve veterans facing a variety of challenges, VVSD offers programs to overcome unemployment, addiction, barriers to health and mental health care and other challenges. It created the annual Stand Down event to connect veterans with homeless services, and the program has inspired similar events throughout the country.

A perfect storm

Templeton said several things aligned to lead to the license revocation, beginning with complaints within the organization itself from people who objected to VVSD expanding its programs to include non-veterans, a move she said involved many factors, including a need for additional funding.

VVSD also was restricted from expelling disruptive people from the program during the pandemic, and critics went public with accusations that the environment was unsafe, she said.

And then there was the overall increase in fentanyl use among addicts. All of the overdose deaths cited by the state involved the drug, which is considered more lethal than other street drugs.

“And so this was all the perfect storm,” Templeton said.

Restrictions on the program prohibit clients from being searched, and Templeton said an investigation into one death revealed the fentanyl involved had been brought onto the campus by another client who hid it in a body cavity.

“We can’t do everything,” she said, adding that drugs were rarely found on campus. “We can’t even pat someone down. We can’t say with absolute certainty that substances won’t make their way into the environment.”

“If you have drugs on campus, you are discharged,” said counselor Teresa Najera, who had worked in the program. “No exception. You’re putting the rest of the clients at risk of relapsing.”

Templeton also acknowledged there were deficiencies in the program, but said they had been corrected and none were related to the deaths, which included one from apparent natural causes and others outside the campus.

On-, off-campus deaths

The state cited seven deaths in its notice, with four in 2022, two in 2023 and one last March. Four were on campus, including two that were drug-related.

One client died of a heart attack on campus in February 2022. That same month, another person who had been ill died on campus after he returned from a hospital that had cleared him for discharge.

A third person died in April 2022 of a drug overdose on campus. Templeton said that man had been referred from the County Probation Department and was on campus just two weeks when he died. After his death, Templeton said they learned he had 20 prior drug overdoses and other issues that might have disqualified him from the VVSD program.

In September 2022, a client who was not responding to treatment, relapsing and not complying with urine testing was off campus and supposedly looking for a sober living home when he died of a drug overdose.

Because he was still technically enrolled in the VVSD program, his death was considered to have happened on their watch. The state put VVSD on an 18-month probation because of the deaths in 2022, and the probation was set to end Sept. 9.

In May 2023, a man in the program created a fraudulent pass to leave the campus and died of a drug overdose at his brother’s house, although he was considered still enrolled in VVSD.

In September of that year, another client who was off campus died when he was struck by a train while riding a bicycle.

Last March, two clients overdosed on campus, and one died.

The closing of the program affected 36 employees; Templeton said 19 were furloughed and 17 were assigned other positions.

VVSD still has 199 beds funded for residential treatment, but the action leaves an additional 123 beds without funding.

The nonprofit had submitted $87,136 to the state to renew its license last March, and Templeton said the money is not refundable.

Originally Published: September 13, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.