Dave, the other item is basic math. We charge $500 to get into the contest. We give back $25 to anyone staying in the official hotel as an incentive to stay there. That means $475 to get into the contest. That number is arrived at by inputting all costs associated with the tournament. It comes down to this: we can hold the line on the $475 for a couple more years by controlling costs where we can OR we can raise the entry fee. The decision was based on economics. Because St. Paul did a great job of raising support capital (far better than anyone in a decade) for the event, PSi was able to delay the decision to hold down costs. That's why you get a break this year too.
Look at this way. This year an all events pass is $75. Six of those would cost you $450. Tee shirts are likely to be $15 each and bags are $10. Six each of those comes to $150. Even if you get nothing else for the registration fee, a six person team reaps $600 in direct retail benefit from the event. A five person team gets $500. On that level, it's still a pretty good bargain. And you get a reduced rate in the hotel too.
