The part I’m surprised isn’t touched on here is the larger view of the industry. If ESPN becomes weakened and say has to cut back on the amount of money it spends on programming, that could have much larger ramifications for sports as a whole. If the biggest sports player all of the sudden isn’t bidding billions for the rights to sports broadcasts it could very well start tearing the fabric of the sports themselves.

Sports salaries are tied to television revenue. If all of the sudden these leagues start making less money from broadcasts, then salaries will go down. If the teams start making less money these sports palaces that get built become less viable(if they make much sense in the first place).

ESPN running into trouble could be the first domino in a much larger sporting arena.