Не то чтобы я очень любил футбол, но хорошие болельщики и интересный чемпионат делают матч интереснее.

Не то чтобы is a common fixed expression meaning something like:

• it’s not that...
• not exactly that...
• I wouldn’t quite say that...

It softens the statement. The speaker is not bluntly saying я не люблю футбол. Instead, they are saying something more nuanced: football is not really a big personal passion, but certain things can still make a match enjoyable.

This pattern often works as:

Не то чтобы X, но Y.
= It’s not really that X, but Y.

Not necessarily. After не то чтобы, Russian very often uses a past-tense verb in a softened, idiomatic way, even when the idea is about a general or current attitude.

So Не то чтобы я очень любил футбол is understood more like:

• It’s not that I’m a huge football lover
• Not that I really like football that much

rather than a strict past-time statement.

A present-tense version may appear in some contexts, but любил sounds very natural in this kind of hedged remark.

Yes. In the past tense, Russian verbs show gender in the singular.

• любил = masculine
• любила = feminine
• любили = plural

So this sentence, as written, suggests the speaker is male. If a woman were saying it, she would say:

Не то чтобы я очень любила футбол...

Because любить normally takes a direct object in the accusative case.

So:

• любить что? → футбол

The reason футбол looks unchanged is that it is an inanimate masculine noun, and for nouns like that, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: футбол
• accusative: футбол

The case is accusative, even though the form does not change.

Because the subject is made of two things joined by и:

• хорошие болельщики
• интересный чемпионат

Together they form a compound subject, so the verb is plural:

...болельщики и чемпионат делают...

If there were only one subject, the verb would be singular:

• Интересный чемпионат делает матч интереснее.

• болельщики = nominative plural, because it is part of the subject
• чемпионат = nominative singular, also part of the subject
• матч = accusative singular, because it is the direct object of делают

Again, матч looks the same as nominative because it is an inanimate masculine noun:

• nominative: матч
• accusative: матч

So the role in the sentence tells you the case.

Интереснее is the comparative form of интересный:

• интересный = interesting
• интереснее = more interesting

So делают матч интереснее means make the match more interesting.

This is a very natural Russian structure:

• делать что-то лучше
• делать что-то проще
• делать что-то интереснее

Russian also has another possible version:

делают матч более интересным

That also means make the match more interesting, but the structure is slightly different. With интереснее, the sentence is shorter and very natural.

Yes, болельщики means fans, supporters, or people cheering for a team.

It comes from the verb болеть за someone or something, which means to root for or to support in sports.

So:

• болельщик = a supporter / fan
• болельщики = supporters / fans

It is often a bit more neutral than фанаты, which can sound stronger, like die-hard fans.

In sports, чемпионат can mean a championship, tournament, league competition, or even the whole competitive season, depending on context.

So интересный чемпионат means that the competition itself is exciting, well-organized, dramatic, or worth following. The idea is that not only the individual match matters; the broader competition can also make a match feel more engaging.

Because но means but and joins two contrasting clauses:

• Не то чтобы я очень любил футбол
• но хорошие болельщики и интересный чемпионат делают матч интереснее

In Russian, a comma is normally placed before но in this kind of sentence.

Also, не то чтобы here works as a single expression, so you do not put a comma inside it.

Russian word order is flexible, but this version is natural and neutral.

Current order:

Не то чтобы я очень любил футбол, но хорошие болельщики и интересный чемпионат делают матч интереснее.

Why it works well:

• the hedging part comes first
• then но introduces the contrast
• интереснее comes at the end, which gives a nice focus to the result

You could rearrange parts for emphasis, but the original is a very normal word order for everyday Russian.