Is major league sports watching the way the Elites channel men's aggression into something non-threatening to them?

Help me out GLP-ers...Somewhere I read an article or something that talked about how the Elites use professional sports and the whole "fan" thing (shirts, paint, cheering on your fav team, living vicariously through your fav player, etc.) as a way to actually channel mens' natural aggressions and competitiveness into something infantile and nonthreatening, as a way of keeping them from turning their frustrations and aggressions against The State...

What say you all? Has anyone heard this or know where I may have read it?