@lukestokes - While sports in general is a medium of expression of competitive edge of humans in a positive and supposedly harmless way, sports as an 'entertainment' has it's downsides. While being beneficial to the ones that actually participate in sports (benefits like fitness, analytical abilities, faster decision making etc.), for the people watching it, it is nothing more than adrenaline rush and usually, a colossal waste of time in the name of sport. The issue, I think, is with the way the sports has been hyped in media and it has become almost mandatory to watch - to avoid feeling 'left out' when peers discuss it. Millions of people in Asia and Africa spend time watching cricket and many in North America and Japan spend time watching baseball and fights.
Edutainment does exist - quiz shows, reality shows with problem solving etc. but I think the common man does not relate to those because understanding them requires far more effort. It is easy enough to understand why a pass was made or a ball was hit in a certain way for a common man because they are related to physical action that everyone understands but to understand why a blackhole is actually fuzzy is not everyone's cup of tea. Unless we have mass appeal, edutainment will not spread. For us to evolve, as you point out, we need to develop a combined consciousness of humanity as a whole, which will not happen till most of the population in the world moves to higher steps of Manslow's pyramid of needs.
Just my two cents.
Thanks for the thought provoking article. Got an opportunity for a workout for my mind. :)

Regards,