Swampboy,
Think I know what you mean, but talent draws interest whether it is the team or the individual. The key word - Talent!
People would need to understand the internal communication that drives scouting and recruiting efforts and they would have a better understanding of what happens at those large events. Every game played is scouted by people who have experience in recognizing talent. If a player is not identified the way it is... He would not draw much interest with 1,000 scouts and recruiters in attendance.
Another assumption that is incorrect... All scouts and recruiters hang out at the East Cobb complex. Well, usually there are more there because there are four fields within walking distance. But overall, a very small percentage of the recruiters hang out at the complex. In fact, I don't know of any that just stay there. I often see more scouts at a single high school field game than the entire total at East Cobb.
Coaches and scouts come from all over the country. They do tend to follow teams and players from their area the most. Academic schools (Ivy League, etc.) tend to follow the players with good grades. Smaller colleges tend to follow the not so well known teams, hoping a player slips through the cracks. And of course, the well known teams with lots of talent are followed the very most where ever they are scheduled to play. The pools are set up so that every team will play a couple games against one of these top teams. This is done to give the unknown teams the opportunity to become a known team and to give those players a better chance to be identified by decision makers.
I agree that paying a lot for exposure can be a mistake. Especially, for anyone who lacks the neccessary talent. Yes, I agree, winning games increases chances to be seen by more people in every tournament.
However, with all due respect, I would have a hard time comparing it to the lottery. It doesn't take any talent to buy a lottery ticket or to win the lottery. No scout or recruiter can pick out the next lottery winner. And there actually are some players who might be much better off investing their money in the lottery.
Another thing... I sometimes have a problem when people call certain events Jupiter or East Cobb or Ft Myers. I understand the obvious reference, but there are many events held at Jupiter, East Cobb and Ft Myers.
It wouldn't be a problem except we have heard from players and parents saying they played at the Jupiter tournament or at East Cobb. We check and find out they are not listed in our database. Truth is there are events held at those places that do not draw lots of scouts or college recruiters.
That said, I guess it's not that big a deal. We too often refer to the big one in October as "Jupiter" and so do many of the scouts and recruiters. No one ever thinks that Jupiter has been held in Ft Myers and San Antonio in the past, or that East Cobb is played in 3 or 4 different counties in Georgia.