ESPN has had playoff games for years, this isn't anything new. Did you boycott games on ESPN? At least it's way easier to setup and cancel streaming subscriptions than cable TV.
Who doesn’t have ESPN at this point? It’s a standard part of every cable package, I know some people do not have cable but that’s the exception rather than the norm.
It’s also easier these days to cancel cable, the streaming cable options like YTTV are month to month.