A lot of us can’t due to age or infirmities.
When my mother was still alive, suffering with advanced rheumatoid arthritis, she used to love watching sports, especially the Chicago Cubs, on TV. I remember when Michael Johnson won the Olympic Gold Medal in his gold shoes, my mother said, “He was so beautiful when he ran.”
If you don’t like to watch sports, fine. But many other Americans DO love sports.
BTW, if you divide up that high salary that an athlete receives by the number of people that he/she touches (on TV and in person) with every performance or game, you will discover that per person touched, an athlete actually makes LESS money than many other people, usually less than a dollar a person. Just a different way of looking at it.
Also, consider how many other people make money off of these athletes. There are bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, etc. in Chicago that only exist because of the Cubs, Bears, White Sox, Blackhawks, Bulls, etc., and these little joints provide an income for the owners, waiters and waitresses, vendors, etc. I’m sure the same is true in all the other cities with professional sports franchises.
And think of all the youth teams that buy McDonalds and Subway after the game, and stay in hotels and motels and ride buses to competitions and buy uniforms from the local supplier. All those people make money off of these younger teams.
Even in the ice skating world, a lot of people make a little extra money because of the Scott Hamiltons and Kristi Yamaguchis who are now millionaires. The Chicago Jazz synchronized skating teams include over a hundred skaters (and their parents), ALL of whom need to stay in hotels and buy food from restaurants when the Jazz travels to a competition. That’s a lot of maids and waiters and waitresses getting paid to help take care of the Jazz.