The Triwizard Tournament hadn't been around for *202 years*. The last tournament was held in 1792. 

As a result, it was a novelty! No one in living memory was around for one, and there was a significant amount of hype around it at the time. Hermiome added to this by talking about the events of the 1792 tournament after which it was cancelled due to being too dangerous. It was exciting because no-qone knew what to expect. This, combined with audience anticipation to see what happened when the competitors did emerge (and who remained intact!) was probably enough to keep them happy for the duration of the event.

>“Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel, because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage. It’s all in Hogwarts, A History.” —Hermione Granger

Hermione adds to the hype by talking about the events of the last tournament before it was declared too violent.