The Third Circuit court case deeming the NFL is "sports entertainment" and not "sport."
This is entirely fictitious. There is no legal distinction between these two terms, nor did any court deem this to be so.
Which was there as an outlet for the masses so they stopped questioning what the emperor was doing
This is entirely fictitious. Roman circuses were race venues the predate the Empire. If you're talking about gladiator combat, that predates the Empire as well.
The Eagles also drafted a player in 1944, but he didn't find out about it until 1999:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_Michael