Why Magnus Carlsen is good for chess

This post is inspired from a depressing article on dismal state of chess in United Kingdom 

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/20/grandmaster-crash-how-english-chess-pawned-its-future

It will not be an exageration to state that rise or fall of a sports (game) depends on the money it is able to attract which conversely depend on the number of audience follow it.

Chess even with more than a thousand years of history currently is sorely lagging and largely depends on largesse of few rich individuals/corporations/nations (Russia/China/Qatar etc). While played by more than 500 million people on the planet it is still not able to find a regular spot in Sports channels/news. 

Journey from a beginner to GM level takes several years of painstaking efforts, investments in chess books, hardware/software, coach, travel expenses. But in Chess as of today it is difficult to secure a financial future san for top 20 players which makes it an insurmountable obstacle to attract fresh talents in the game. 

The way forward to develop Chess as mainstream Sport will be to televise to reach wide audience and attract more sponsorships.

*NRK/FIDE deal is a welcome change (http://en.chessbase.com/post/agon-fide-sign-record-breaking-media-deal)

It is noteworthy to mention efforts of GM Maurice Ashley in organising "Millionaire Chess"

https://millionairechess.com/

Magnus Carlsen with his good looks and great talent has been able to transform image of chess players from typical nerdy guy to a smart and suave person.

Also with modelling for brands and appearance in TV commercial Magnus has extended reach to chess to a wider audience. 

Porsche 911 Commercial: Ali, Sharapova, Carlsen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeKy9-UZiW0

Magnus kick-off Real Madrid vs Celta de Vigo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei7Apl3EOYc

Magnus App

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBSi1XG7izE

Magnus Altibox advert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MXMcMtYJJM

Magnus participating in Qatar Masters 2015 open tournament and competing against much lower rated opponents (risking drop in his elo ratings)

Champion?

Why does it matter if it is a sport with money and everything? 

this is the exact reason soccer is not big in the states... no room for advertisement, or small room for marketing a target audience

It's never going to be a mass-market spectator sport like football (aka soccer).  

Because more people will start playing if they see chess-players. More money means more tournaments, more motivations for people to become chess players...

If wonder if players of other board games fret about their particular game not reaching the status of footbal, etc. Are there players of Risk or Monopoly out there who are obsessed with making it a big money sport? I doubt it. Chess, like pretty much any other board game, is, for the overwelming majority of people, a parlor diversion. A favored hobby at best. That a relative handful of people are able to make at living at it is a small miracle, but will never be any kind of standard. Chess has endured for centuries and is enjoyed for reacreation by tens of millions of people already. Why do we delude ourselves into thinking it ever will, or even should be, more than that?

Well you look at chess in the 1970's, especially in the boom after Fischer-Spassky, where chess was big money, and it's not surprising players want to see big money back into chess.

Monopoly has never been a big money sport (the world championships have a winner's prize of $20,580, compared to $600,000 for chess). And Monopoly doesn't have half the history that chess does (some of the history behind it is quite interesting though). And if chess gets more and more money, there is a better chance that more tournaments will get sponsored, meaning lower entry fees and higher prize funds. What's not to like about that?

Was their really big money in it though? Sure, the world championship matches had big money behind them (still do), maybe a few top-level elite tournaments had bing money behind them (still do). But for the most part did many chess events really have big purses?

And the fact that chess, despite it's long history, has never been able to really grab the public's eye, aside from Fischer-Spassky (which, only grabbed the public eye because of very specific circumstances, tied up in tense international politics of the time, which haven't existed since and likely will never exist again), ought to tell folks what it's real potential as a big money spectator sport is.