When I entered a few days ago, I think Deanne said she was hoping for something like sixty entrants and 12k TOTAL purse. Said she would take up to 108 but we know that's not realistic. Hope at least 60 is!
The only way these events will continue is if the number of entries remains high enough that resulting increase in revenue is worthwhile to the casino.
With the non-accomodation entry fee being $200 and $200 from each entry going to the prize pool, one could say that they're not making any money from local players, who won't take a hotel room and who would probably be there playing anyway. Therefore, any increase in revenue generated by this event will be coming from non-local players who will be paying the extra $75 for hotel rooms that would otherwise probably be empty and from their side play. Previously, they had a guaranteed purse, didn't keep the $75 room fees and offered generous cash back for side play so, even with a full tournament (108 players) they were probably not making much, if any, extra revenue by holding this event. Add to that, wildcards that did little to keep folks in the casino once they were eliminated, and things were even worse than they could have been.
So their first move was to eliminate the guaranteed prize pool, the accomodations as part of the tournament entry fee and to eliminate the $50 cash-back and some of the coupons. Basically everything that they were losing money on. The reaction from non-local players was so bad that they had to cancel the June event. More evidence that it is not the local players who are keeping this event going. Their adjustment now appears to be to re-instate the $75 room offer and some of the food coupons. Time will tell if this will entice enough non-local participants to return.
What is certain is that, if these events are to continue, they need to find the right balance of incentives to keep the non-local players coming vs extra revenue to make things worthwhile to the casino. The more non-locals participate, the more revenue comes in and the higher the prize pool becomes, which leads to more non-locals coming. It's a self feeding cycle, if they can find the sweet spot.