I thought the point was not that nobody likes football for reasons unrelated to allegiance, but that there would not be the kind of support that sustains professional football without team loyalty.
For instance, Mr. Knecht, I highly doubt that there are enough people like you who “occasionally watch a tennis or soccer match” to support anything like professional tennis or soccer. I suspect there is a core audience that regularly spends a lot of money on tickets etc.
Mr. Sullivan makes a good point though; perhaps the tournament nature of golf and tennis generate a different kind of interest than that generated by more team-ish sports? Or perhaps those are just counterexamples and most sports fans are like you? (OTOH, from what I understand, most professional golfers and tennists are not paid nearly as well as most footballers etc.)
I thought the point was not that nobody likes football for reasons unrelated to allegiance, but that there would not be the kind of support that sustains professional football without team loyalty.
For instance, Mr. Knecht, I highly doubt that there are enough people like you who “occasionally watch a tennis or soccer match” to support anything like professional tennis or soccer. I suspect there is a core audience that regularly spends a lot of money on tickets etc.
Mr. Sullivan makes a good point though; perhaps the tournament nature of golf and tennis generate a different kind of interest than that generated by more team-ish sports? Or perhaps those are just counterexamples and most sports fans are like you? (OTOH, from what I understand, most professional golfers and tennists are not paid nearly as well as most footballers etc.)