Although I only view from the outside these days I'm a lot less pessimistic. My perception is that the event is about as strong as it could be in the modern world. Its certainly waaaayyy stronger than the late 90's when DJ and a handful of others were lapping at 120+ and the tail of the field was just cracking 100mph laps.

The older crowd has probably got a lot to do with disposable income and the change in social norms (lots of younger people live their lives vicariously watching stuff online).

I reckon that there is still quite a few doing very well out of it and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future because it is such a unique event (and because of the reputation of danger).

The only certainty in life is change.