Sorry Maxx, last time I heard there were 5 continents, so your ability to name a few European racing drivers doesn't convince me it is a global sport. Neither does your judgment of demographics based on what's on TV. I sometimes wish football wasn't such a global sport. England invented it but the rest of the world adopted it, and have continued to embarrass England with their superiority ever since. Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France, Cameroon, Senegal, South Korea, Australia, Ivory Coast, Russia, Italy, etc. etc. have produced teams and players who have wiped the floor clean with English players. Even the good old US of A has embarrassed the national team in that little parochial event, the World Cup. I suppose your idea of cheap and my idea of rich is all relative, but for the countries that cannot afford to buy a car, football is often the sport of choice.
I do like to watch many sports on TV, but I prefer to get out of the house and play sports. Also I like to get out of my own country once in a while and realise that the priorities that may hold true in my own little part of the planet may be completely different when I visit another country.
Football is like international terrorism. No country is immune.