The whole idea of the Espys IS marketing. It's pop culture's answer to MVP awards and such, just the same as MTv awards are pop culture's answer to the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, etc.
So if you don't want to watch them...fine. Neither do I, as a matter of fact. But if you want to pretend you've achieved some sort of enlightment by "discovering" that the Espys are shallow, pop-culture driven, ultimately hollow excuses for awards...fine, keep pretending, I think it's hilarious.