Interesting stuff. Yes, no one pays to be on TV to my knowledge, with exception of paid advertising gimmicks. It's pretty much the other way around with good shows drawing the advertising dollar. I think Steve is saying which companies would advertise on such shows.
As a side note, does surfing make mainstream TV much these days?
I can tell you this, poker ain't no sport. Neither is chess.
They are both mental games, not sports (imo). Darts is a sport though.
Interesting that Poker probably gets more airtime than surfing, kiting, snowboarding, etc. ... combined. All they do is turn over cards. Weird.