A professional sport, by definition, is meaningless without spectators. Another illustration of a world turning on its head, from one where the United States, by every measure, became the greatest nation the world has yet seen, reaching its zenith along about 1963, and then tumbling since then, faster with each ensuing decade, moving at unstoppable speed now.
I do agree we are a nation in decline although I’d put the Zenith at 1969, the year of the first Moon Landing.
Let me add, your post reminds me of my mother’s last Christmas on the face of the Earth in 2012. We were watching an old Andy Williams rerun on PBS and when it was over, she burst into tears. I asked “why” even though I was sure I knew why. She replied to me how we have sunk so low and wishes “we were back in the world of Andy Williams.” Ever since Barky was selected, she cried on every 4th of July when the Boston Pops played God Bless America.