hippocamus
Auto-translated
I think the comparison is perfectly valid. The vast majority of people come to watch matches featuring professional basketball players. The same applies to Heroes; top online players attract the largest audience on streaming services, which helps popularize the game.
Therefore, considering the opinions of such players is very beneficial for the developers themselves.
Online, yes, that's how they come. But still, these are the people who already know and love the game for the past 20 years.