I agree with everything you juat said, but I'd like to point out that you were being very generous with the costs in the first paragraph. I never shot a one day match that cost less than $100, and I was getting 1,500 rounds out of 6cm barrels. I live 20 miles from K&M, and I still ahoot there occasionally, when I want to shoot beyond my 400y back yard range, so I was blessed there, but I know people who were driving hundreds of miles to shoot a weekend match there. The actual cost of competing twice a month in centerfire prs is substantial. I understand why it is, because those ranges are expensive to own and maintain, especially the nice ones. To circle back to the golf thing: a person could play golf 10x a month and they wouldn't spend anywhere near what it costs to shoot two 2-day matches a month.
And despite all of that, I doubt many folks quit because of the cost. They quit because they realize they don't have the time and resources to be in the top 10, so they will be eternally mid pack. Prs matches only work because the majority of shooters accept that they aren't good enough to win anything, so their entry fees buy prizes for the pros. That gets old fast. I've heard people propose a ranking system like league bowling, or some sort of handicap system, so people are competing against their skill level peers, and can actually be rewarded for their improvements. Something like that might work.
