It's easy to dunk, but this isn't just something EVO adjacent. Las Vegas is also intentionally pushing out as many folks as possible that are within what I'd consider the stereotypical FGC tax bracket. TL;DR Mass appeal is dead, they would rather cater to those who spend the most. Why? Same reason why an artist might charge $500 rather than $100- you work less and get paid the same overall. Let's take 2025, the year when Vegas tourism had a precipitous drop. It had a 7.5% drop in 2025, which is the largest drop since the Great Recession (minus COVID). Napkin math, let's say EVO 2025 had 9,000 attendees, all generating $1000 in profit (lol) on average over three days, for a total of $9 million. Now let's compare that to Dana White drunkenly losing $3 million in a single night at the Rio. Look up the concept of a K-shaped economy (and try not to get angry). Short answer is currently, 10% of Americans are driving nearly 50% of all US consumer spending. To be in the 10% on the West Coast, that's roughly a $2 million net worth and make $225-250K a year. Las Vegas never had your best interests in mind, but it's become corporate strategy the last year or so that they do not care if they see you at all. Don't count on specials or deals for a long, long time.

When the percussionist rolls this out, you know the set is about to sound like an art school's kitchen exploded