Would it be possible to write a 'history book' instead of a traditional story?

I love worldbuilding and creating little scenarios in my mind but I typically find a lot of trouble actually making something of it. I definitely want my worldbuilding to be out in the world for people to see, but writing a traditional book with a traditional story arc and characters and allat is very hard to me. I know it's okay to just worldbuild for fun, but I really do want my worldbuilding to be seen by somebody, which leads me to my question:

What if, instead of writing your average story with acts and emotional context, you were to write a more non-fictional, educational style of book, set within your world? I'm a fan of sports history and just history in general, and I thought of this idea when making the sports of my world, then realising there was no good way to write about the rules, history, different plays, etc. while incorporating it into a story. I thought about it for a second and realised it may be easier to just get rid of the story and have a book completely full of exposition and lore.

I guess what I'm wondering is if this has been done before and if anybody would actually enjoy it? I'll probably go ahead with it anyways, seems fun, but it's an interesting concept to me and I'd like to hear other peoples thoughts.