They’re so tiny. More likely that OP’s beef is with a small handful of people.

Are they that toxic? I never encountered this kind of negativity from them

Being for sports, I'm guessing a lot of the communities keep to their own teams and sports, but I've never seen any trolling or toxicity there (more activity in general would be very welcome actually). I'd recommend sharing some examples and why a complete cutoff is necessary rather than blocking a few users.