This year I made a point to my aunt: if there's sports on the TV during Thanksgiving, I'm packing up, going home, and spending Christmas at home this year. If the few people that do watch sports want to hijack the main TV so the rest of the family can't do anything about it, I'm not going to bother staying or come back over for a holiday again.
If sports are more important to some family members then their own family, I much rather spend my time at home, online, and with my cat then to be subjected to the sports program that I have never held any interest in. And I'm not the first person who has threatened to do this and won't be the last, either -- I suspect I'll be Family Member #5 who won't be spending time with this side of the family during the holidays because of sports.