Sportive saturation?

Im sure that Audax and CTC riders gaze in bewilderment at the sight of a thousand or so cyclists lining up to pay £30 or so to ride around on roads which you can ride on for free.
The sportive is the manifestation of cycling's most recent flowering in popularity. Back in the day, if you weren't racing or on the club run, your only option was an event with one of the aforementioned organisations - my first was the Wild Wales in the mid 90s (he said in desperate attempt to gain some street cred).
In the intervening time the sportive has taken over to such an extent that you can probably take part in one every weekend between March and November.
I dont have anything against the events of course, I just wonder how many of them are driven by commerciality and how many will exist in a few years time.
Obviously, if cycling looses momentum and ends up back where it was a few years ago, there will be fewer events and it'll be the 'Johnny come latelys' which will disappear first.

Look familiar?

Tracking what happens to both the numbers of Sportives and the number of participants over the next few years will provide a good indication of where cycling is at in the national psyche. Should be interesting to see where it goes.