Pro sports are entertainment businesses like the movie companies or record stores. Actually, pro sports are, by virtue of their anti-trust exemptions, state sponsored monopolies . Any major competition to the four major leagues has, in essence, been strictly curtailed by the federal government, via the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 and Baseball's broader anti-trust exemption. The owners run the teams like real businesses where revenues must exceed costs. Franchises are designed to operate at a loss, which is to be covered by taxpayers who have little interest in the game.
Teams compete with each other.
Actually, each league now shares much of its total revenues with member teams in a kind of cartel-socialism. Winning is not so important as sharing a stabilized cash flow. Teams and owners are discrete entities, each with a unique local character. Actually, each franchise is just a member of the Big Cartel. In some cases, the identities of owner-partners is confidential and unknown to local residents.