The original Olympics were popular entertainment.
But mostly as religious festivals. Its symbolic war. Its to honour the fallen.
All the sources I've seen says it was primarily a religious ritual.
When Greek kings died games were held in their honour.
Roman gladiatorial games were the same. We're so fed with media calling it blood sport that most people believe it today. People might have enjoyed it, but that wasn't the point.
When Greeks and Romans became Christians both the Olympic games and Gladiatorial combat died out.
If they truly were doing it, primarily for entertaintment, they would have kept doing it.
Something they did keep doing, which was purely a sport and entertainment was horse and chariot racing. That's btw what was referred to in "bread and circuses".
Olympic champions were heroes. no different than today. Celebrities.
We need to be careful who was honored. I think the medal winners were primarily the trainers. Not always the athletes themselves. When reading source texts we assume the celebrity was the guy competing, because that's what we do. Not always the case in ancient Greece.
Watched a documentary on the Olympics. The walkways to the venues wooed have been lined with vendors.
I gave no doubt ancient Olympic champions were commercialized. Statues and memorabilia.
I saw a youtube video with a historian comenting on the depiction of ancient Greece in the video game Assasins Creed. Not perfect, but probably the best visualisation made to date.
