That actually exists. It's called Division 3 NCAA sports. There's no redshirting, no financial aid because you're good at sports and no making a profit from sports or paying coaches million dollar salaries in D3. The conferences are also based on where the colleges are geographically located. You just don't hear about D3 because their games usually aren't televised and 99.9% or so of their athletes actually go pro in something other than sports.

And it's still massively more of a deal for spectators then academic sport in, say, the UK.

I spent a term as an exchange student at the Catholic University of America, a smallish university with a completely unexceptional D3 football programme staffed with actual students. And they got two thousand people to their football games! Much of the campus! Alumni! People who lived in Brookland and fancied some live sport!

I mean, I knew how seriously people take high school football too. But even really good UK university sport can play to an audience of the players supportive romantic partners only. A different (and quite refreshing) world.

I think I would prefer the UK model for things like football. Where there is local community teams that are not limited just students, but larger age ranges. And then possibly also having kids programs.