According to my mum, there are two really (overly-) general archetypes of professional competitive (sports-)people:
1) Those who feel they have to win (sometimes at all costs) and will either suffer or struggle until they do, then lose interest once they've 'won', and need to do something else. (The need to win.)
2) Those who love the overall process of both playing and associated activities, that will always continue regardless of outcome, even if they still want to win. (The need to play.)
For any non-top (will probably not win anything soon) sports teams to continue, they need a good balance of these two. To say that it is meaningless without winning anything is to deny the existence of the latter, which is a mistake. There are probably rough equivalents for the supporters, too...