I think you vastly overestimate people's ability to consume pirated streams.
First off, all of these events are already being broadcast on ESPN. So if people were going to steal the stream, they're already doing it.
And secondly, I know some very competent engineers who have no idea how to get pirated content, nor any desire to learn, despite being perfectly able to do so. And then there are they laypeople who not only don't want to learn but probably aren't even capable of doing it if they did learn.
They just don't want to spend any mental space on it. If they can pay to watch they will, and if they can't they won't.
First off, all of these events are already being broadcast on ESPN. So if people were going to steal the stream, they're already doing it.
And secondly, I know some very competent engineers who have no idea how to get pirated content, nor any desire to learn, despite being perfectly able to do so. And then there are they laypeople who not only don't want to learn but probably aren't even capable of doing it if they did learn.
They just don't want to spend any mental space on it. If they can pay to watch they will, and if they can't they won't.