LogFAQs > #924703565

the game was new last year and had insane casual appeal because it was Dragon Ball. part of the reason why Ultimate got such a huge boost this year and Street Fighter V was massive in its first year. The numbers at EVO do not necessarily reflect the entire competitive scene. There are plenty of casual players who go to EVO because they see it as THE tournament and are likely to never go to a tournament again.

i also don't think the game is that spectator friendly either. games can get pretty long for several reasons like all the blockstrings, assist cooldowns, sparking, etc. and i wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the casual appeal dropped off partly for that reason.