I am waiting to hear the actual numbers from Josh.
Let's use 2016 and assume 100% participation form all events.
How much money would WI have brought in and then donates to WI SCS and Nationals?
Heck, give us the run down of money that would have been donated by every state to Nationals.
Right now, my biggest issue is that this is a logistical nightmare and also goes against the building of the community around competitive pinball. Second issue is that a state with 1 event still gets to send 1 player to nationals that could win the whole pot which is funded largely by other states that run hundreds of events. Makes more sense to set a set fee to participate in nationals. If a state sends a player, they pay the set fee rather than a percentage of total money brought in. This current manner incentivizes TDs to run fewer sanctioned events, not more.
Seems like a much easier and fair way is to charge each player an annual IFPA membership fee. $5 tracks your rankings for the year and your rankings only count after you have paid the fee; due on Jan 1st (or within 10 days of your first tournament being played).
Hell, if you are smart you will provide added features for profiles for more funds.
I totally get the desire to make more money for the elite that win these events, but this is the wrong way to do it.
Do it right and you can even get enough funds to invest and grow a steady bolus to start off each year.