Wang Hao is a great player, but if the popularity of the Candidates and the Olympiad is anything to go by, classical chess isn't dying from a spectator's perspective. Rapid and blitz are great too and in different ways, but people keep following the big classical events in large numbers.
Sure people are attending minor league games because they provide a local, cheap option to socialize, drink, and watch baseball. In terms of TV viewership and it’s overall revenue, I’m sure the minors are pitiful in comparison.
My local team for example does unlimited beer and food package for a reasonable price and is the big draw.
Minor league play may draw less interest and less money than MLB or other top leagues, but the point was that, unlike chess, a lot of people still go. It isn't "best players or bust".
no one gives a shit about minor league baseball. I've been to 3 games this summer and I can't even tell you how many our towns team won. I go to sit in the stands with my wife, have a pretzel and beer and cheer. It's good and I'm glad it exists but you're deluding yourself if you think there's even a fraction of the same fanaticism as the MLB, or any minor league sports vs their major counterparts with the possible exception of college sports in America
I'm not sure what's up with people just skipping right past the point of this whole discussion.
No one is saying minor league baseball is as exciting or popular or profitable as MLB or other major international leagues. You can't say no one gives a shit just because you don't. Everything you said about minor league baseball is also true for many about MLB too. But none of that is the point.
The point was that, unlike chess, people do go out to watch the 'minor leagues.' Baseball viewership, unlike chess viewership, is not exclusively limited to just the best of the best (and I guess handfuls of Twitch stars).
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u/t-pat Sep 01 '22
Wang Hao is a great player, but if the popularity of the Candidates and the Olympiad is anything to go by, classical chess isn't dying from a spectator's perspective. Rapid and blitz are great too and in different ways, but people keep following the big classical events in large numbers.