I agree with you. Just want to add some more data points of ESPN's politization of sports.
There was a really interesting dynamic between ESPN's highly rated "barber-shop" sports talkshow, "First Take" between Stephen A. Smith (SAS) and Skip Bayless (Skip aka. Master Troll) where they talk about NFL/NBA/MLB etc and a lot of sports-fandom controversies were made from this (e.g., the chosen one became the frozen one, Tebowmania).
My very blunt take and very racial take is that SAS kind of represented the Black urban side of sports if you will, the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton figure, the black preacher who calls out social injustices as embodied in the sports arena (e.g., Kobe should get his money despite crimping his team as the white owners get their money) or also calls out the hypocrisies in his own community (black athletes getting suspended due to drug testing). SAS usually touts players who are proven super-stars, shoots too much in games, score big or miss big, who are ultra-athletic.
Skip if you will represented the white man from Oklahoma City prefers more team-oriented play (San Antonio Spurs) and players who aren't necessarily the most athletic but have the "it character," modesty, God-fearing and Skip's clutch-gene (Tim Tebow) and revels in the downfall of players who are touted for their athleticism but whom he thinks lacks so-called "character" (LeBron James lacks the clutch gene).
The two battled it out, in my opinion, the identity politics of the Left Coast (SAS) vs. the sensibilities of the Flyover Country/South (Skip) as embodied in the sports arena. It made for a really compelling TV show for entertainment.
Recently however, Skip left the show to join Fox Sports Network. His white replacement, Max Kellerman is no longer an antagonist against the other side but more supports the identity politics of SAS (e.g., basically just nodding along in the whole Kaepernick not standing during anthem). This made the show extremely boring IMO and no longer compelling TV.
My take might sound extremely contrived and racist if you haven't watched the show. But IMHO, the elements are all there and the producers/hosts are very careful to coast up to the edge of right sensibility of PC while still boosting the controversies and ratings. I'd love for other watchers of the old First Take to comment if they disagree or have other takes.
And finally why you'd care about the dynamics of a popular sports talk-show if you're not a sports fan - like art imitating life and life imitating art back, politics as represented in the current US election cycle is IMHO a spectacle imitating popular sports culture, and the opposing party nominee of your party is the rival team of your division, the heel, the against team of your sports bet staked with your political identity. Perhaps for the League, the owners of the teams sitting in the owners box ultimately isn't who wins on the field but the constant tout in the media so that the fans in the stand are fanned to keep buying in.