ESPN+ does provide some live TV, but not all of it. For example, it contains the upcoming monday's NFL game, but none of the NCAA games today.
https://www.espn.com/espnplus/schedule/_/type/upcoming/categ...
https://www.espn.com/espnplus/schedule/_/type/upcoming/categ...
But I am not going to jump through hoops and pay for stuff I do not want, and most importantly, I am not going to spend time researching what is and is not available on + versions versus not +.
Same with NHL. I would pay to watch ice hockey, I will not pay to risk being unable to watch because I live too close to the stadium and hence should be blacked out.
I also will not pay to have advertisement breaks shown to me.