ESPN and Major League Baseball have a "framework agreement" for out-of-market digital rights and local games from five franchises in another big streaming sports shakeup

That may sound like a lot of fanfare, but ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service has launched with much less of a circus than a media industry watcher might have expected one, three, even five years ago. That’s because ESPN is releasing a revolutionary new project that it doesn’t really want you to buy.

Disney and Fox hope new ESPN and Fox One streamers launching Thursday boost their digital revenue without hurting cable fees -- a tricky maneuver

ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service, ESPN Unlimited that includes ESPN+, launched Thursday and is available to many Spectrum TV customers.

The timing of the announcement of the ESPN-NFL merger and the scrapping of ESPN's Colin Kaepernick's documentary has triggered rampant speculation that the two are connected.

ESPN Unlimited is a new and particularly comprehensive sports streaming subscription from ESPN. For context, the more limited plan previously known as ESPN+ has become ESPN Select and continues to cost $11.99/month. Subscribers to the existing Disney+ bundle with ESPN+ will see this change reflected going forward.

Disney Entertainment and ESPN’s chief product & technology officer Adam Smith is expanding his leadership team, adding former JPMorgan Chase and Walmart executive Tony Donohoe and former Google executive Erin Teague.

Fueled by its massive array of rights deals, the brand (which launches Aug. 21) is being counted on to boost daily engagement with Disney's flagship streamer, reduce churn and draw sports fans to sign up.