>>10
Probably because it's an easier sport to follow. I watch it, but you're right. It doesn't really begin to get exciting until the playoffs start. Whereas American football has a lot of weird confusing terms.
I'm not much of a sport fan though, with the exception of baseball. And most don't really care about football (except for those that actually follow it) until the Superbowl where for a couple weeks you hear everything about it and can barely escape it.