Usually, when laymen say "made $30K" they mean net profit i.e. after all costs/ expenses. The sales/revenue/collections (from ppv, advertising , sponsorship etc) would have to be more maybe $60K or more. Basically the prizemoney was entry fees from 40+ players + added money $4K so players were just paying themselves.
Of cos, promoter has to make money and cannot do this pro bono but if it is true that promoter made profit of $30K and only added/contributed $4K to prizemoney that sounds very disproportionate.
All this is prompting Darren to start his own Dynamite Productions (DP) 8 ball tour. So now we have another DP in addition to other DP (Dragon Promotions)
I don't think Earl and Darren would be considered "laymen" in the pool industry.
The question still remains unanswered to my satisfaction, but then again, frankly, it's none of my business. As soon as everybody got paid and the tournament rules were adhered to, it's okay.
It would be like me charging a fee for my product, and then after the fact, the person I sold it to complained how much profit I made, even though they like my product before, during, and after. Hey, that's business!