Shaw, I strongly believe you wouldn't be making this argument if the roles were reversed (partially indicated by the fact that you thought I was arguing American sports were the guys spending cash). I wish I could believe that you aren't blindly arguing for American sports over European sports, but I can't.
Issue 2: American sports are often more about general entertainment than the sport itself.
A handful of examples:
1) From many "Cubs fans," I hear their reason for supporting the club as being "Wrigley is such an amazing place, I love to go watch the game and have a few beers." Believe me, I am A OK with that. But admit to yourself that you aren't there purely for the Baseball. The stadium is filled with more or less non-fans. It's great, it's an event, it's a fun day out in the park, but it's not an atmosphere for serious enthusiasts.
2) Cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are great. They're hot. But why do we have them? To add to the overal experience. I'm fine with them, but admit to yourself that they don't actually add to the sporting nature of the event.
3) Half-time performances, live music, music during play. Once again, it can be very entertaining, but aren't a part of the sport. They seem to be around to entice people on the fence into going to the event. Music during the play eliminates the "12th man" effect which is so awesome to experience in Europe. In England fans don't need some guy to play a keyboard organ. They sing. And they cheer, and they warn their players when somebody is attacking from their blind spot.
4) The Superbowl. It's awesome. But it's geared to non-football fans. The pinacle of American sports is full of glitz and glam and five thousand television ads that each cost millions. It's amazing. It's proof that America is a great nation. But it's not for the purists.
5) Player celebrations. This is mostly for the NFL, after every tackle and every score they celebrate their balls off. And they do whacky things like change their name to Ocho Cinco, or they pull a cell phone out of a goal post, or they go to jail for dogfighting. They do all these awesome things and I love it. Because they are both athletes and entertainers. Soccer players, for the most part, are just athletes. Yes some of them have their stunts, and yes they like to celebrate a goal, but they don't go for the monster dunk to try to posterize an opponent when a layup would do. In America you have monster dunks which are an ever so slightly lower percentage shot because people LOVE monster dunks. I love them. But admit that we love them not because they're good Basketball, but because they're awesome.
In short: American sports aim to entertain in more ways than just being good sports.
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