The financial guarantees demanded by the league when awarding the hosting duties has pretty much excluded those smaller venues from even making a presentation toward hosting. That severely limits the field from which to choose, and basically denies those small market franchises any hope of participation. So, what happens when those larger market teams decide that they won't pony up those huge guarantees that the league has been accustomed to getting ? The Windsor situation might be a harbinger of things to come, and Mr. Branch's cash cows will begin to dry up.
As a Londoner, the Memorial Cup was great, first time around, but when it returned ( too soon IMHO ) the experience wasn't anywhere near what that first one delivered. That's the risk of limiting the hosting duties to those bigger venues. Given a fair shake, I've absolutely no doubt that places like Barrie, Kingston, Sarnia, Sault St. Marie, etc would wholeheartedly embrace the Tournament, because for them, it would be HUGE ! It's the showcase for Major Junior hockey, but for many of the long time franchises, Mr. Branch has appropriated the event from their grasp. I suspect that if it came down to getting more money if TV sponsorship requested that the military involvement be " toned back ", he'd ditch that in a heartbeat. After all, the "grassroots fans" seemingly are of little significance, when that almighty bottom line is considered.
I can emphathize with those disgruntled and disinterested Windsor fans.