ESPN  has been struggling as younger audiences choose outlets like Netflix and Amazon Prime over cable television.
In a statement president of ESPN, John Skipper, said though sports viewership was not diminishing cuts were necessary to keep a "competitive advantage".
Disney, which owns ESPN revised its profit expectations in August after the channel saw a decreases in subscribers.
ESPN gets money from cable companies when subscribers buy bundles that include the sport channel. As more people choose cheaper cable packages or opt for online subscription TV such as Netflix, ESPN is having to rethink its strategy.
Disney said in August it was considering selling access to ESPN directly to viewers in the way outlets like HBO and Showtime already do.

The visitors were shot out for only 109 by an electric bowling and fielding performance, with James Anderson taking 3-42 and Luke Procter 3-14.
James Vince, watched by England coach Trevor Bayliss and selector James Whitaker, was run out for nought.
Haseeb Hameed and Proctor then shared an unbroken stand of 104 to take the hosts to 157-1, a lead of 48 runs.
The comfort of Lancashire's reply on a true surface at Old Trafford further highlighted the impressive effort of the home bowlers.
Under a blue sky, Anderson bowled with good rhythm a week before England's first Test against Sri Lanka, while Neil Wagner swung the ball to remove both Michael Carberry and Liam Dawson in successive deliveries.
By then the biggest drama had already taken place, with Vince - widely tipped for a Test debut at Headingley on 19 May - run out by Steven Croft's brilliant direct hit.
Responding to such a meagre total, Lancashire were given a flying start by Karl Brown's boundary-laden 40 from 33 balls.
He was pinned lbw by Gareth Andrew's first delivery in first-class cricket for more than a year, the former Worcestershire all-rounder making his debut after joining Hampshire on a match-by-match basis.
That, though, was Hampshire's only cheer, as the watchful Hameed and wristy Procter saw Lancashire through the rest of the day without any hint of alarm.
Lancashire's Karl Brown:
"The bowlers have done it in every game so far. You can't put it down to one person doing everything because, as a unit, they've bowled really well and kept the pressure on.
"As a batter I know when you are chewing up dot balls it gets difficult and you can play a shot you shouldn't. Creating pressure has been the key to us taking wickets.
"The squad has a lot of confidence and everyone is backing each other to get the job done. It's a very nice pitch and hopefully it will make for a lot of runs and we can get a good lead."
Hampshire's Gareth Andrew:
"I got the call to play on Friday afternoon while I was making my cricket club's teas so I was in a bit of a flap. I've played a couple of second team games so I'm a bit under-cooked but I'm ready to take my chance. It's match-to-match and we'll go from there.
"Lancashire bowled really well and obviously we didn't bat as well as we'd have liked to. We need to stay in the game so we'll be fighting on Monday. We need to keep it simple, hit the deck hard and bowl nice and straight.
"It was a dream start for me to take a wicket with my first ball and hopefully my old man was looking down. I lost him only four weeks ago so it's been a tough time but it's been great to have the opportunity to get back into first class cricket."
Sports channel ESPN announced it is cutting 300 jobs or 4% of the company's workforce.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Lancashire completely dominated Hampshire on day one of the County Championship Division One match.