Also Serie A, in Italy we had people losing everything this winter due to floods, and clubs were still trying to not postpone matches, it's so crap that there are so many people following football
It works better than your typical propaganda as players become heroes, managers and clubs make great money. Distributors get their cut. The machine is well oiled with solid monetary incentives.
Football (and other sports watching): cheap but deep rooted emotions, press here to get your dose.
I'd categorically say that focusing that sort of person on sports is by far the lesser of the two evils.
Democracy only chooses as wisely as the average intelligence of its voters.