If it's something that brings exposure to the church as a whole it's easily one of the best tools the church has.
The key to it being successful however is success by the team. The more successful the more exposure.
If you look at CFB and CBB both have huge exposure opportunities. By BYU making it to the NCAA Tournament alone they get primetime viewers around the world.
It's easy work for a network to have stories on returned missionaries and their life in the sports after returning. Tanner alone was a recurring story 2 or 3 weeks after the hail mary game.