The "Tom Sawyer rule" as you say is the reason in my mind for the success of the NFL.

As you probably know, in NFL they play only a small number of games per season because it is a very physical sport that results in too many injuries. People eyeing the money (team owners, sports media) have been pushing with little success for more games per season.

However, because of this, it brings scarcity to the table. As there are few games, each game is valuable. Each game is unique and kind of historical on its own (asking "do you remember that game of X at Y in 2018 season" is quite common).

Compare that to the reality of a soccer league in Brazil (a country that loves soccer) where teams that go very well in all competitions can play up to 92 games in a year (in a span of 297 days actually). There, stadiums are never nearly full unless there is a very special game going on. I don't think it's a problem of money in this specific case, I think it's more about the triviality of always having two games per week all year round.

Recently, even in the best European soccer leagues they play more than what they should, by the way. I wish I could tell this people how much they are hurting their own product.