re: Does sling understand that if they don't re up with ESPN that they'll be dropped bigly?

One of these streaming services could probably create a niche market of not carrying any sports networks or Disney but carrying local networks (except ABC, owned by Disney) and other entertainment channels and charge less than the other streaming services.

Cable bills are so high, in part, because of what ESPN charges per subscriber compared to what other networks charge. Disney is notorious for its high price per subscriber model.