In my opinion, the Mesoamerican ball game might have been both a sport and a religious ceremony. It is thought that it is talked about a ball game from about 3,000 years ago, in that age myths were part of the dailyroutine. For that reason, religious and secular life were a whole and it was very difficult to distinguish separately those both realities.
About popular sports nowadays, I consider that contain ritual elements which organizes the different social moments of each match. In no way, the players must be sacrificed after losing a match, but I consider that many of them are overpaid.
Regarding to bullfighting, I consider it is not a sport but a no needed way of sacrificing helpless animals viciously. That is why I think bullfighting must be banned.