TheRealWeinerI was venting about the accessibility of their events, it just feels a bit odd to host an open tournament that has an $80 buy in that isn't the main event
Just chiming in here as someone who doesn't know much about the previous pricing of NA TF2 LANs nor its venues, but please be aware that a venue having their own PCs and monitors available and only having to spend $80 ($100 for the upcoming LAN I believe) to be able to just turn up and play is a very good deal. There have been many EU LANs where ~$80 would be the ticket entry cost and then you either travel and bring your own PC and monitor, or drop 200€ for PC and monitor rentals on top of it. And teams still turned up.
Don't take these venues for granted and make use of them while they are available; looking at RAM prices etc. rising I think it's only a matter of time until they prove to be unprofitable and close down their business, and the community has to go back to BYOC + rentals or small-scale LANs.