Do Sports like Football & Professional Wrestling Contain Elements of Religion?

By InFlamester20 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77961337

Is football a religion?

If you watch the clip below, called Idol Worship,  you might think so.

Maybe all professional sports possess some elements of religion. 

For example, University of Alabama religion professor, Michael Altman,  recently wrote  "A Religious Guide to WrestleMania," for the University of Alabama's Religious Studies Department's blog.

Altman reminds us of Johnathan Z. Smith's idea that religious studies do not need to be "limited to things that seem “religious” in the common use of the term." He finds elements of religion in WrestleMania.

Altman compares the huge crowds and their deafening cheers to American revivals in the 19th century.  He reviews the fictitious stories behind some of WrestleMania biggest stars and compares it to the idea of "belief" and  "how belief functions in other places, especially those we often label “religious.”"

Finally, Altman examines the role of gender in WrestleMania and asks whether "there are male-dominated spaces within “religious” institutions, cultures, or communities that might be worth comparing to the so-called “women’s evolution” in WWE?