Many developing world economies, and all of Latin America, had emerged from
the terrible Lost Decade of the 1980s determined to reform and liberalize their economies.
It's easy to paint a road map to the league's demise — let's say, a critical mass of players leaves the sport because of health concerns, fans likewise
lose interest in a sport they know is ruining men, and the game itself becomes a
terrible slog to watch — but the end point may be several
decades from now, well after the people who could have acted have sold out or died.