The fine is a pittance. I usually scale these to a median household income, let's call it $80k. A quick Google says ESPN's revenue is $2.48B/y. To ESPN, this feels like how a $2.73 fine feels to a median household, or a $0.45 / instance fine.
As the article notes, it's the statutory maximum, so the FCC's hands appear a bit tied.
The fine is a signal that the FCC is paying attention. The FCC has a lot of power in addition to this fine and ESPN doesn't want to provoke them. If ESPN behaves badly enough, Congress can give the FCC what it needs. It's better business to just pay it, move on, and stop using the tones.
Oh I was definitely tempted to! But the ESPN-only revenue was already a stark enough contrast, and technically Disney only owns 80%. (Though I suppose you could do a weighted average of the two parent companies' revenues.)
As the article notes, it's the statutory maximum, so the FCC's hands appear a bit tied.