Isn't it exactly what remiska wrote? That people watch matches of interesting teams? Like you said a lot of people would tune in to watch Champions League final even if it was the most boring match ever and not many would watch "qualifying rounds involving teams from Gibraltar" even if it was the most exciting match in the whole tournament. Same goes for sk vs usa and uk vs israel.
What you wrote is exactly what remiska is saying so why and how do you disagree with it?