A lot of people do enjoy opera, only they don't think of it as opera. "Les Miserables", "Phantom of the Opera", etc, are not less operatic because they happen to be in English.
Of course you are right, and it is a matter of semantics. But I am old school and, to me, Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera are not opera, they are Broadway musicals. It’s a fine line. Of course, I can’t stand Alban Berg, and don’t think his work is opera, either. Strict upbringing, I guess.