The thing is is that the scheme warner and freestyle has become such niche scheme that it only attracts a small numbers of people. Most new and regular people today on WA play Kaos, mole, shopper, and Normal at least for the most part. If a new or regular player sees people freestyle in warmer it might overwhelm them, perhaps even scare them away and thus alienating them because freestyle may look aimless to them. It is the barrier to leave a comfort zone to overcome a new skill that may be menacing. So people opt to what is ''current'' and ''easy'' to get by. Freestyle is not easy to get into because it involves a lot of intricacies. To my experience, a new player or even a regular player sees a experienced roper rope around in a rope scheme, they sometime state that they aren't good enough for you and the scheme, and therefore they choose to leave. Though I think freestyle could be revitalized if it is done easy and in a welcoming fashion.
Heck, even I don't like trick race because I don't like being told how to rope and what to do. Sometime I get compliments ''Wow nice (insert trick name)'' and my reply would normally be ''Heh I just rope''.
in the end this cup would have been more popular 10-20 years ago, but these players aren't around anymore. That doesn't mean the game is dead, it just means the focus has shifted.