Recently, we profiled emerging sports media powerhouses YouTube and Amazon. But there’s still only one ESPN. It has the strongest rights portfolio, and is the industry’s biggest-spending, highest-rated and most influential programmer. We should know: John worked there for more than 20 years, 15 overseeing digital media. Ed negotiated ABC/ESPN’s initial NBA/WNBA agreement.

ESPN is also critical to parent Disney — to reach men, power advertising growth and promote critical initiatives. But traditional pay TV, long its biggest growth engine, is in systemic decline as streaming ascends. To grow, ESPN must now get fans to buy ESPN, not “do things the way we always have.”

In the spirit of its parent company, time for a little “re-imagineering.” How?

ESPN’s first Super Bowl in February is a helluva start. We have ideas:

Focus rights spending to keep year-round must-watch properties, specifically the NFL, NBA, SEC football, CFP, the NCAA’s “other championships,” including women’s basketball, ACC basketball, the Masters, WNBA and Wimbledon/the U.S. Open. Sports fans pay for big games — via pay TV or a streaming subscription — and ESPN has them.

Deemphasize talking heads/studio shows. With rare exceptions (e.g., “College GameDay”), no one’s paying for these shows anymore. The formats are now available 24/7 for free on YouTube and excerpted/litigated on X.

Fill those hours with even more live events. Reallocate a chunk of the nine figures ESPN spends on its marquee talent to more game rights. With its........

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