A Case Study For the CFL:
Serie A's (Italian top league soccer) past experience with ESPN before moving to CBS's Paramount+
Much like the CFL, ESPN had the rights to Serie A for a few years and kept the property tucked away in its "worldwide" portfolio with poor promotion.
Serie A moved on to Paramount+ to have more exposure and success even though a niche sports offering and a distant third or fourth in the US in soccer behind interest in Premier League and Liga MX and seasonally MLS. Interest ramps up in the spring for the league.
Occasionally a game even makes CBS via the Champions League especially in the spring. CBS Sports Network, a cable property, has always been small and is not used exclusively for Serie A games as opposed to simulcasting the game to Paramount+ when used.
Paramount+ is becoming more and more akin to Netflix through original series though it's early in its history.
This approach by CBS is in contrast to the likes of Peacock and ESPN+, which are not at the forefront of original series and content and used primarily to try to upsell audiences when each of them put utter crap on their cable channels like USA and the ESPN channels much as they have done for years.
ESPN of course has gone out of its way to be a political network for a decade now, and of course most sports fans don't tune in to hear any given political slant when they have plenty of other options if they are into politics.
The political engagement are yet another reason not to be tied to the ESPN brand, for their strategy is to define your brand in their interests not to help you promote your brand as they grow their business around your brand.
The NFL got wind on that front two decades ago and has successfully made sure to keep ESPN in their bottom place in the pecking order for their media partners.