Because chess is so much more popular there. Here the emphasis is on money-making activities, such as sports- that have rules that can be easily understood by the large masses, and that are easier to market. In addition,there is much more support for chess there, and chess is highly admired; here there are a lot of mixed opinions and myths about chess - for example, that in order to be a good chess player you have to be intelligent, chess is for nerds, etc. Now that chess is finally entering the US and increasing in popularity, hopefully it will be much better understood and appreciated in the future, but it may take a long time before it becomes really popular here.