At BASS the Marshals pay $150 to get up at 3 or 4 am pay for their own hotel, gas to and from event, and miss work to sit on a boat for at least 8 hours a day in any kinds of weather. Most events there's a waiting list! So the $150 is probably closer to $1000 if you figure everything else into it, and all you get is a couple hats, maybe a shirt, some food, exhaustion, and if you're really lucky an angler that's going to make the cut so they're somewhat social. FLW is doing this same thing this year with the added incentive you get your name in a hat for a boat at the end of the year.
So after looking at all that the MLF official gig doesn't sound too bad for someone who's retired. For the record I would do the BASS Elite Marshal experience.
These anglers in the BPT aren't idiots or children so I don't see favorites or a "they're being mean to me" scenario happening. Most of these guys are businessmen and quite a few have some sort of marketing or business degree so they know what they're doing and what they're getting themselves into. I hear people say frequently how it won't last three years or once Johnny Morris's money runs out it'll be over and on and on. My take on this whole thing is we don't know squat about the details. There's something there that has made almost every big name in professional bass fishing jump ship and in wasn't all because of BASS some probably. Like I said these guys know what they're doing and if they have enough faith in what they see then BPT has something potentially big here. Then again they may all fall flat on their faces in a few years, I doubt it though.