Total purse was $300k, Magnus got $100k of that for winning.

Which confirms the point, right?

It's not chess but a variant. Maybe it has ~10-100 times less viewer base.

I wish it was more popular - it’s more enjoyable to watch and play since it’s not nearly as much prep / memorization

I suspect Magnus draws a similar level of attention regardless, it's probably closer to half the viewer base

100%.