Magazine's not the kind that covers principally professional football, say (9,5)
I believe the answer is:
spectator sport
'kind that covers principally professional football say' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'magazine's not the' is the wordplay.
'magazine's' becomes 'spectator's' (UK magazine The Spectator ).
'not' becomes 'por' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'spectators'+'por'+'t'='SPECTATOR SPORT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spectator sport that I've seen before include "something to watch" , "You're not invited to join in this" , "one to watch" , "For example, cricket" , "Eg, football" .)