In reply to Duke_Haphazard:
> This is the worst outlook on this. If you are a fan of climbing you'll like or respect any competition. People who think like that aren't real fans imo.
So do you feel the same about billions of people watching the Olympic 100m final who wouldn't watch or probably even be aware of a prize money race with an almost identical line up a few weeks later?
Do you look down on them because they are not real fans and have a bad outlook?
Spectator sport is only important because people are interested in watching it, and people only watch it because it has a sense of occasion and importance generated by the interest in it; it lifts itself by its own bootstraps. The big events, Olympics, World Cups will always attract interest simply because they are the big events. I actually think it is a rather wonderful phenomenon.