Been "lurking" this thread...
It's an "unbeatable problem" as we like to say around here, given the current trends, IMO.
Kevmath RTed an article that in some twisted way relates:
Infinite Edge Gaming – Fearing the complex
if we ever hope to "shape" a solution, we need to mold new players. We must also remember that all skill aside, only a very small portion of players are motivated, or naturally "talented" enough to grasp the game the way some of our best do. The savant will always be bored of the less exceptional, or maybe even just less obsessed. Add in the
barriers of a lopsided population of Ontario to everywhere else and trying to maintain our Canadian "theme" and well, it is what is.
Personally, I like our social club and while it's not 2+2, that's also what I like about it. I feel like I know a lot of people here and consider you all friends IRL.
As to revenues, could it be "fixed?" to attract more players? I don't think so. Negreanu is arguably one of the favorite role models in the world, and you don't see his forum doing much more than here. I'm guessing we have tons of "lurkers"; our perception is that because we don't have posters, we aren't bringing people in, yet Alexa often has PFC killing it for Canadian ranking.
As others have said, online is on a decline right now, so it's not like you can take blood from a rock. Players are better and give up easier than when most of got in the game, most have accounts on the big sites there aren't new revenues to be had, or they are extra afraid to get involved given a few years of shitty happenings. We are Demographically challenged, so we haven't seen a lot of marketing dollars directed at Canada until other markets where choked out, so how are we sell the dream, pushing the sucess stories to the next generation of Waterloo kids?
It's also daunting as hell now...when we got in it was "Moneymaker turned 2 bucks turned into 2 million", now we have $1,000,000 buy-ins. It's like projecting "so you want to try rock climbing, every bodies whos anybody is tackling Everest."
Last but not least you have a giant controlling 70%+ of the online traffic; with such a chokehold they are giving less back to both players and affiliates, further choking reasons for some to stay and others to get in the promotion game.
Basically, yes, the forum is somewhat "broken", but to generalize, the affiliate revenue system isn't working well right now period.