You know you kind of contradict yourself within your own post. You say “it needs nicer cities that are relatively inexpensive to run a big tourney and that are easy and cheap for players to get to”.
Well, the city, and surrounding area the US Open was always held at IS a nice area. It has a large convention center that would be cheap for MR to run the tourney. It always was easy and cheap for players to get to, and stay for the entire week, far more so than it has been since MR moved it to Casinos in Vegas and Atlantic City. There are numerous hotels in the tidewater area that offer better and cheaper accommodations than the Casino Hotels players MUST stay in if they want to play the event, not to mention for the fans that attend the event. There are more, better, and cheaper restaurants there for players and fans to choose from to eat during the week of the event. There are other attractions in the area for those attending the event to enjoy than there are in Vegas and AC where MR has held the events since they acquired it, both Vegas and AC are relative pits with bad food, expensive accommodations and no other attractions other than casinos.
What there IS NOT, is a flipping casino that will basically give the convention space to MR for nothing, or next to nothing, and their attached hotel that will give a kickback to MR for the expensive rooms they force the “poor players” you speak of, to stay at in order to play in the event. They give the sweetheart deal & kickbacks to MR because it fills their crappy hotel, fills its attached crappy restaurants, and fills its crappy casino because there IS nowhere else to stay, eat, or other attractions in the area but the Casino’s.
They don’t care about easy to get to, or better and cheaper accommodations, or better, cheaper, and more plentiful dining options for players and fans. They don’t get anything from that. They want it somewhere in a Casino or Resort where everyone from players to fans pay to stay at hotel, eat at attached restaurants, gamble at the attached casino, so they get their kickback cut. They could give a rats ass about the quality of the experience for the players or fans.