I know this....... they day I can't bring my own meat that I selected and trimmed......... I'm done. Meat provided contests don't level playing fields, it just shuffles the decks. Ask anyone who has ever cooked these events and you'll hear that the quality of meat between coolers is not equal. Some have gotten some real junk.
Some teams can win brisket with primes and commodity pork and chicken wins every weekend. People aren't getting outspent, they are getting out worked.
In general I feel the same way. Guinea pig is cool as another type of event, but not something I'd want to do all the time.
My point about cost is not people getting outspent. It's about people not being able to show up, or not be able to show up very often.
The issue isn't with guys doing, say 8-10+ comps per year. Most of us doing more than that are bought in, and are going to do what's required to go compete every weekend we can. For me, right now, it's about time more than money. I can make 12-13 weekends a year work, and with some doubles hopefully do 15.
The issue is the guys that come out and do their local comp, which on the cheap side is still $500-600, and how do we get them to go 2 towns over and do one the next weekend, or next month? How do we then get them to do 4-5 the next year and so on? The money adds up quick, and when you're at that level, it becomes an obstacle. Some will make the commitment and do it. Some won't. Right now, it seems like more won't than will.
That said, I think that an option outside of making it cheaper, is to make it seem like a better value. Bigger prize pools could help. If you get one call, if that call is worth $100 vs $25 is psychologically a bigger bump. Other things that could be provided (Friday night dinner, etc) all bring value without costing a whole lot.
Like all things in life, the decision to compete more is going to be a value proposition. If you're trying to decide whether to get in to this, any additional value that can be created will increase the chances that more teams stick with it.