Toss me in the "diehard" sport fan group...and the fact the contract expires in the middle of ESPN's portion of race season just makes it worse for me. I get that Dish is never going to be a big player in sports, and can live with the current offerings for my sports needs, but if ESPN disappears, that'll mean its time for me to eat the ETF and move on. I know there are a lot of folks who don't want sports channels at all, and I fully support having sports channels a separate "sports" package, such that those folks wouldn't have to take them. I just don't see that happening, unfortunately. It IS encouraging to see Scott's post above that the sides are already working on negotiations...though recent Dish history of such negotiations still makes me nervous.