Interesting. I've known a bunch of young German guys who were here studying here and got season tickets, plus I've chatted to guys from a few other Euro countries (Holland, Finland, Spain off the top of my head. Yes, and the UK ;) ) who all followed the Nix to some extent and none of them made disparaging comments about the quality.
The people I have met who act like watching the A League is beneath them have been kiwis, a lot of young guys who play football on Saturdays, and FIFA on the PlayStation/Xbox, who have a EPL team they follow, but who scoff at the A League and the Nix. I've always figured that people from Europe understand following a team and a league because of where you live, and are used to a wider range of football, whereas young kiwi lads only see EPL and Champions League games occasionally and feel like football is all about superstars and highlights reels.
Maybe it's a demographic thing. I'm in my early 30s. Maybe in older generations it's the other way around - kiwis following the Nix and foreigners being snobby about it?