Fans are on the edge of their seats. But there are a lot fewer of them than there were in the days of Dorothy Hamill.
It's been 40 years since Dorothy Hamill, so lots of things have changed.
I agree there might be fewer hard-core fans than in the past in the US. I'm less certain about that world-wide.
But, for the sake of argument, conceding your point.
The questions that follow are, "What's the cause of that?" and "How do we win them back?"
"B Level" competitions for those who can't contend in the Main Event doesn't seem to me to be a winning proposal.
Mathman, you're a pragmatist. Do you really think that watering down the athletic dare-devil aspect of a sport already considered "unmanly" by wrong-headed people is going to put butts in seats?