A smaller and smaller niche for racing

With the state of American sports I have almost entirely withdrew from TV viewership. There was a time when grade one races were on TV- certainly the big "super Saturday" at Belmont would have a two hour show on broadcast TV. Those days are over. Racing does not sell cars or beer and the advertisers know it. The shows that are at the forefront -American Football- are there primarily because they are great vehicles for advertising. The will of the people is bent to accommodate what advertisers want.

If these shows are on primarily because they suit what advertisers want, why are they so successful? Am I alone in being disappointed in the public? This is supposed to be a democracy with an active and informed public. Yet this public just follows suit with what advertisers want with very little distention. There used to be so much diversity of sports to chose from. There seems to be a macro-trend of consolidation and sports are following the trend. Almost like a dog being walked on a short leash the public seems to be under a common and well tuned yoke. They are turning increasingly to American football here in the states with little variance.

Technology is able to bend the will of the masses to keep them herded in a way that will produce the best yields for the networks. If TV can't do all of the herding fantasy sports will complete the job. From my observations it seems like these fantasy games are a real obsession for many and tie in with the smart phones to provide nearly constant mental masturbation. The difference from five years ago is the total and complete mental masturbation provided by smart phones. Take away those devices and the public has a diverse interest allowing a place for sports like horse racing or volleyball. Is American football really that interesting that it should dominate like it does? There is so little action and so many commercials. While this sport may be massive down south it is not that popular in my region. As a northeast urban "guido" I don't see many of my people out there playing this sport. What percentage of adults actually play this game? It seems to exist on TV alone. Even without a cultural or personal connection many of my co-workers and neighborhoods spend their weekends watching these games.

You would think that there would be a large scale exodus of the public from sports viewership due to alienation but it seems like it is not happening. Instead of people dropping out because the sport they has dropped out they are changing their taste to match what is being offered. The niche sports -horse racing and handball are my two personal faves- seem to be occupying a smaller and smaller space. With little to no mainstream attention many sports seem destined to disappear in the near future.