True fans have no problem with this, you simply suffer from outsider bias.
I think baseball is unwatchable, for example, but only because I am not invested in the drama of things like a left-handed batter suddenly appearing at the plate swinging right. Stats are a baseball fan's delight.
Hockey, football, soccer, doesn't matter - the real drama is in the storylines, and these are tied to personalities and communities. If you don't know who the players, coaches and fans are of any professional sport, it is just different coloured jerseys.
Look at the Invictus movie, for example. I don't have a clue how to score points in rugby, and the movie to its credit didn't condescend to explain it to me. And yet the film was made compelling - why? Because of the storyline.