Gary Kasparov, former chess world champion turned Russian politician, declared that the organizers of Chess failed to capitalize on the dynamic personal rivalries that existed in the 1980s and 1990s, which is why, today, the game is not as popular as sports such as Boxing and Tennis.

I would have thought that it had something to do with watching a board game that takes 10 hours to play, as opposed to an adrenaline filled sports match, but I must admit that Tennis has some downtime, too.

(source)