Where do the costs of running tournaments come from?

Renting a venue
Travel/hotel
Computer hardware/internet
Prizes

If we held localized tournaments, where people didn't need to travel or pay for lodging, a big part of the cost is eliminated.

If computer hardware/internet is sponsored (which it usually is), or is simply byoc, those costs are eliminated.

If prizes are provided by sponsors, those costs are eliminated.

The only thing left is the venue (which is arguably the most expensive part). Is there a way to eliminate the cost of venues? There could be. Let's say there was a venue that was the host to many different events. They could have rave's one day, Quake tournaments the next. If that was the case, they would profit from providing space for free. It's kind of a self-promotion. Quake players go there to compete, and they see the other events being held there, causing them to potentially go to them. Likewise, people who go to the venue for something other than Quake, might see the Quake tournament, and go back to the venue for it. There are also other ways of turning a free event into a profitable event, such as providing food services. People at an all-day tournament tend to get hungry and thirsty. They wouldn't want to leave either, because then they would miss the action. There could also be special sales on things like hardware, merchandise, and tickets to the other events they host.

If the tournaments are small and local, it gives players a reason to compete - the fact they actually have a chance of winning and don't have to spend thousands of dollars just to get there. It also gives the venue a reason to host the tournaments (for 'free'), because the majority of attendee's could actually go back for the other events. At that point, practically all of the costs of running a tournament are eliminated, while the profits are increased. The overall number of players is also increased, since more players have the chance to win prizes. When you're competing against the best in the world, you have practically no shot. When it's just random, local people, you have a pretty decent shot.

Maybe these local tournaments wouldn't have much appeal to audiences, but they would appeal to players. With more players, the audiences for the big tournaments will be bigger. If we could set up a system like this, where tournaments of this kind were held regularly in every major city on Earth, QL would be enormously successful. I mean shit, the tournaments could be run in arcades. There are arcades everywhere, and certainly, the people who go to arcades would be interested in competing in and watching tournaments. Once the tournament is done, they stick around to pump some quarters into machines. Once they go home, maybe they install QL (it is free, after all), for the enjoyment of it, and in hopes that when the next tournament happens, they can win some prizes. That's what we need - small, local, regular tournaments. If the venue and everything else is free, we can achieve exactly that.