FoxSports (Sinclair) balked* immediately after Youtube put out a public statement saying the two sides couldn't come to an agreement.
YouTube is a fascinating business - YTV seems like YouTube Red on a grander scale - and there are a lot of channels on basic YouTube that don't need any of that supplemental contracted-for-content income beyond what GoogleAds revenue (and sponsorships) generate. The top of YouTube content creators make ridiculous bank.
I think it's confusing to think of Networks asking providers to pay them for rights for their channel and contrast that with the likes of Mr.Beasts or Pewdiepies generating insane amounts of money with content they create on their own expense and profit.
I think maybe FoxSports North should take whatever they are offered from YouTube to be apart of their TV/Sub service because they're probably not all that far off from making content and revenue the same way the likes of the Mr.Beasts and Pewdiepies are - off the profit they generate their own expense. At some point, the revenue generated by millions and millions of clicks and views generated by free viewers will surpass the revenue generated by backend contracts and deals in exchange for the right to air. Especially major brands like the NFL or MLB.
(*edit: bulked, lol!)