I agree with both of your reasons regarding why this will have little effect. I'd add to it mans ability to rationalize decisions by truly believing that this would never happen to me. Football isn't going anywhere any time soon. We have a team call at work every week on Mondays and I swear the first 20 minutes (of a 1 hour call) are consumed by College and NFL Football talk. I finally told my team that I cannot pretend anymore, I honestly don't give a shit about Football. It's fun to watch occasionally, but I can't imagine being a fan at their levels. Every Saturday and Sunday they allocate countless hours.... such a waste imo.
That was my experience during my last job, people are all about talking about football as much as possible. It's a bonding experience. I watch maybe, maybe one NFL game a week, but that's about it. I don't rabidly follow it. Baseball on the other hand, if I have enough time I could watch 3-4 games a week of that while doing other stuff around the apartment. How did they take your announcement about not caring about it?