> No, the way it worked in the past for pro sports wasn’t enough to have those players worldwide famous and gossiped all the time

So? The point is football doesn't require this. It's not necessary for football to happen. The first Fifa world cup was in 1930.

> We disagree on learning science and engineers, this doesn’t require physical capital, it only requires human capital

Try building a bridge without any money. Try detecting the Higgs Boson without CERN. Sure Peter Higgs can come up with the idea of the Higgs Boson with little capital ( though somebody still paid for his living expenses - he wasn't a self funded gentlemen scientist ) - but that's the exception - most of the work is like CERN - and requires significant equipment and capital.