I don't watch ESPN anymore, but they're really just trying to reinvent themselves to avoid dying. Think about it, back in the day (10+ years ago), you'd watch Sports Center to see highlights, catch scores, etc. Well now you can go online to get all of that information. You can watch football highlights on your TiVo (assuming you have Sunday Ticket). If you don't have ST, you can still get highlights online, on-demand. What purpose does Sports Center really have anymore?
ESPN broadcasts sporting events, great, but other than that, are they really useful anymore? I'd say not. Thus they're trying to find another format that people will watch (Cold Pizza, that football miniseries, movies, etc).
CW