This was a rough year for cable as viewers keep cutting the cord. But sports, long the lynchpin of live television, kept those stupidly expensive cable packages going. It won't last forever.

We suspect 2016 could be the year viewers finally(finally!)see a standalone subscription service from powerhouse ESPN. An app anyone can pay for, to watch sports anywhere. If that happens, say farewell to cable bundles.

This isn't as unlikely as it sounds. Almost a year ago, ESPN announced that subscribers could stream the service under a package deal for $20 a month through Sling TV. In November, Sony announced the sports network is joining PlayStation Vue, its game console-based subscription streaming service.

Meanwhile, HBO—the channel synonymous with premium cable—launched a standalone subscription option, HBO Now. CBS did the same last year with CBS All Access, and announced this year that it will create a new Star Trek series for the app. Disney's chairman and CEO Bob Iger has made it clear that apps are the future of TV. And, if they're the future, eventually ESPN will have to join.

The Sports Exception

Live sports has long seemed an impregnable category of entertainment. Live games, highlights, and sports news remain a key reason millions of subscribers continue paying for hefty cable bundles. Yet that number is shrinking. ESPN lost 7 million subscribers in the past two years alone, according to documents parent company Disney filed with the SEC, down to 92 million. That's still a lot, but such declines will hasten Disney's view that shunning the way people watch TV now will become untenable eventually.

The decision would not be an easy one. ESPN profits heavily from cable licensing deals and affiliate fees that would not be nearly as high if it were to offer up its service on its own. Yes, NFL contracts are mostly locked in until the 2020s, but who knows? If HBO can eschew cable, ESPN can too.

After all, it seems even the NFL is open to experimenting. In October, Yahoo streamed a Buffalo Bills-Jacksonville Jaguars game from London in what was "the first time an NFL game appeared exclusively online for free to anyone with an Internet connection," as my colleague David Pierce wrote.

The NFL has planned three more games to be played in the UK next year. And, in January, the NFL will auction the rights to broadcast Thursday night football games. According to a request for proposals, a tech company like Google, Yahoo, Apple, or Amazon could buy the rights on a non-exclusive basis, according to Sports Business Daily.

So, sure, it sounds crazy. But as tides turn and contracts expire, you can be sure ESPN and its parent company Disney don't plan to be left behind.