coachrefparent
GOLD
As others noted, the referee fees are entirely separate and paid by the teams for each game. I get that more field space is needed, but skipping an entire round is crazy. I'd rather pay more and get the round of 64.I'm surprised as a ref you don't see why. The younger games are on smaller fields and shorter minutes. Thus, the field fees and referee fees are less per game. The referee fees for 7v7 are even less because of 1 referee at the earlier rounds. The olders are on full sized fields and longer games, thus, the field fees are more expensive and referee fees are more. There are fewer games because there are fewer older teams compared to their younger counterparts.
And no it has nothing to do with the # of teams. Some examples in presidents:
B05: 110 teams, 64 teams advance (58%), 1st and 2nd + 2 WCs
B04: 98 teams, 64 teams advance (65%), 1st and 2nd + 8 WCs
B03: 102 teams, 32 teams advance(31%), 1st place + 6 wild cards
G03: 91 teams, 32 teams advance(35%), 1st place + 9 wild cards
Oh, and they don't tell you whether its round of 32 or 64 till months after you pay. Only a third advance through pool play (pretty much the bracket winners?) But I guess by reading all the comments, this a great tournament structure.