ESPN’s Streaming Leap Could Make or Break Sports TV as We Know It

ESPN is facing down the barrel of a self-made paradox: the company’s upcoming full-service streaming platform, creatively named “ESPN,” might accelerate cord-cutting while potentially making streaming more expensive for consumers. ESPN isn’t doing this out of spite or stupidity, though. Cable still throws off billions in revenue for a select few networks ($10.5 billion for ESPN in 2024). But the industry faces its last gasps. Since 2011, ESPN has lost 37 million subscribers, per State of the Screens...