In the 1970s I think you could say that Rugby League was working-class and football generally was apart from the times it was given royal patronage (internationals, Cup finals). Cricket was working class at northern local league level but probably not at Test level. Sports that started in pubs and clubs (darts, snooker) clearly were. Dog racing was more working class than horse racing but betting shops were working class. Saturday afternoon wrestling, obviously, but that was fake. Not sure about speedway.
Today it's trickier to make this distinction because some of the working-class has been absorbed into the lower middle class and there's a sub-class of people in deep poverty that may ignore sports except maybe snooker on telly.
OTOH I have lived in the US for several years and I could be wrong. Stuart Maconie's book on this, "Pie At Night", was crap IMHO.
Today it's trickier to make this distinction because some of the working-class has been absorbed into the lower middle class and there's a sub-class of people in deep poverty that may ignore sports except maybe snooker on telly.
OTOH I have lived in the US for several years and I could be wrong. Stuart Maconie's book on this, "Pie At Night", was crap IMHO.
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