Actually the ones which are losing in this deal are the people who will pick the tab, in this case, ESPN's customers because they would finance the deal out of their pockets if ESPN decides to pass the costs as usual to the end customer i.e. cable TV users.

Regarding the laid off employees, as much as I hate to hear this but their loss is temporary and not permanent as long as they could secure another job soon and not burn the severance compensation or their savings quickly before landing the next job.