Most of the answers here are correct. But I will add that one often encounters people with extremely informed, strong and wrong opinions on politics and sports. So comparing oneself to them can give one a false sense of superiority. The purpose of Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless is to give
every viewer the false certainty that they are an accomplished sports knower by comparison.
yeah i think the high ambiguity of the domain is a major factor, but is not explanatory by itself. because uh. even actual no-shit greatest-of-all-time experts are still running on hunch a lot
It's also important that it's play. And as such it's a good chance to play with strategies and theories. As there is little to lose if you are wrong. Spouting off opinions is a critical tool for humans like playing fetch for dogs is. And sports is a safe way of practicing that.
*This one is not true for politics.