"Participation in extreme sports has surpassed conventional sports." Did that really happen, or have extreme sports been reduced to the conventional?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/sunday-review/why-people-love-to-jump-off-cliffs.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fsunday&action=click&contentCollection=sunday&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=sectionfront