I've been heads down in doc work the last few days, but nah. This isn't it. You're talking about blips on the schedule or things that don't put up a massive fight.
March Madness - A total blip - Basically 4 days of crazy, this week, from Thursday to Sunday and then it cools. Next week 2 days 4 games a day, 2 days 2 games a day. They lose maybe 1 weekend.
The regular seasons of MLB, NBA and NHL are pretty nothing burger - even their playoffs aren't as stuffed.
NASCAR? Not even the same target audience
Football - sure this has always been their fall killer.
But you do miss the real point, from basically next week until late August, the TV audience is WIDE OPEN. That's like 5 months!
And ...
This is the real thing. Their huge mistake in the Apple TV deal was killing the local games. I live in Boston, if I want to watch Austin FC, I gotta get MLS Season pass. But I can't even watch the damn Revs here! That's a crime (2nd rate, don't get me started on the stadium)
Despite being a 29 year old league, they are still growing. Sure you can get money, but if you aren't growing your fan base, you have a problem. The local games were a way to draw in the casuals and get eyes on the sport. Before Apple TV, my dad and BIL in Austin used to watch games on TV and chat occasionally about it via text. Now, radio silence from them for the MLS. It's that way a lot of places.
Right now the MLS is very stagnant, they could be losing fans. With all of the European leagues available, I know a lot of people are hard pressed to pay for more. And frankly you're only getting the fanatics for Season Pass, not the normies. And that's not a good thing.