Barrel racing (and other rodeo sports) are fun to watch, very popular in the rural segment of the population, there are TV deals, there are probably big sponsors, and it helps attract paying customers to the fair. I'm not even an fan, but I know in my life I've watched far more rodeo competitions than triathlons on TV, because they're pretty fun to watch.

Triathlon is quite niche, not very exciting to watch, and very few people (zero?) that aren't family/friends of the competitors will pay to watch one.

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STAC Zero Trainer - Zero noise, zero tire contact, zero moving parts. Suffer in Silence starting fall 2016