Team Sports

[DrDelirium]

The NFL is an excellent training ground for participation in the American political system. Basically, citizens are encouraged to root for one group of millionaires to trounce other groups of millionaires in a perpetual series of contests in which the ordinary fan gains absolutely nothing but the occasional satisfaction of cheering for the winning team. And, of course, the fans pay for this privilege in various ways, according to their means, from tickets and team jerseys to Sunday Ticket fees and being subjected to a barrage of advertising and branding.
"Real" fans spend endless hours debating the merits of their millionaires vs the other guy's millionaires, and discuss the private lives and political opinions of these millionaires as if they were in some sense important.
It would be hard to find a closer parallel for the US political system. The money flows upward, the fans cheer and boo and get nothing back. The deepest level of political analysis is which coaches and players are the most corrupt, and there's no real discussion of the league owners at all. The rules get tweaked to 'keep the game interesting,' but the owners are still the owners and the fans still give them their money.

 

[Rightguide]

Tax money flows into the universities and colleges that is used to finance athletic scholarships that fuel the NCAAP boot camps for Pro Sports like the NFL. The NFL itself is subsidized with billions in tax revenues that can only be described as corporate welfare while enjoying tax-exempt status and exemptions from anti-trust laws. So yes, they are very fortunate to have all of that and still be able to tell America to get fucked.