I am curious, what does T9A think about all the old timers filling in the survey to bring back WHFB. Do they see it as a risk?
Not an issue, but let's examine it.
There are several risks implied in your question:
1) GW publishes WH9.
2) Unofficial WH8.5 develops.
3) Old timers stick to WH8.
Let's analyse.
1) GW business is to sell models. Old timers who have shelves of unused models are not a good target. GW will not bring back WH, and certainly not for the sake of old timers. And why would they bother to spend resources on WH9 when T9A does a sufficient job which costs them nothing?
2) Many initiatives already. All face IP risk, which is actual. None benefit from same volunteer resources as T9A.
3) The nostalgia for WH8 was what gave T9A the energy to start and proceed on. Better nostalgic old timers than old timers who renounced the hobby and give it no thought anymore.
So the risk is not actual.
Now, let's go a step further and imagine what if...?
1-a) What if GW retconned the Old World and made WH9 stealing good ideas from T9A? Well, excellent news for Hobbyists! Two competing providers force both of them to the highest quality. Instead of having one high quality game which was the goal of T9A community, we would have two of them! What's not to love?
1-b) What if GW bought somehow T9A? Well, to have full coop of T9A, they would have to agree with T9A principles, which would be a huge win for Hobbyists.
2) What if NewWarHammer was developing? See 1-a.
3) What if nostagic players keep playing WH8? If they manage to initiate new blood, all the better. When people will try T9A system, they will compare to WH8, and will stick to T9A. For the fluff, well, at the moment, WH has more, but in the long run, T9A will have more, and more consistent.
So the consequences are not adverse.
Risk = probability x consequences.
Low probability, no worrying consequences => negligible risk.