In Vonnegut's case I remember seeing it at or near the beginning of a chapter of Bluebeard, a book notable for being a kind of whirlwind tour of all of Vonnegut

In Vonnegut's case I remember seeing it at or near the beginning of a chapter of Bluebeard, a book notable for being a kind of whirlwind tour of all of Vonnegut's major ideas and themes (and one of my favorites of his—but I'm weird and tend to prefer his non- or less-sci-fi books). I think the idea comes up in at least one other Vonnegut book or story, like most of the other things in Bluebeard, but can't recall which. Not at home with my books or I'd type out that part for you, as it's not too long. As for a broader or more rigorous examination of the idea, my guess is you'd be looking for something in the field of Media Studies, though I'm not sure what—I've read practically nothing of that sort aside from some breezy, pop-ish stuff from Chomsky and DFW, though I intend to dig into it more deeply at some point. I'd be surprised if some of the more thoughtful sports writers hadn't also covered it, especially with ever-increasing minimum skill levels (and so time commitments) required to participate in most sports at a pro or semi-pro level, though I know exactly nothing about that genre and so can't help you there. For that matter, there may be some variety of thinking-about-the-arts-and-artists-in-general discipline for which this is a big deal, distinct from Media Studies.