"The investment is my own," he told Polygon. "I'm bankrolling it and we're trying to sell some sponsorships. But there are no submission fees."
Keighley is also hoping to earn back the money for renting Planet Hollywood's AXIS Theater in Vegas through tickets, which went on sale earlier this week for $45 each, but there is no safety net.
"There is a fair amount of risk involved," Keighley said, though he declined to say how much of his own money he had to put up for the show. "I thought about doing a Kickstarter, but I would feel awkward doing that. I think I need to take this on myself to prove I can do it. I need to prove to everyone this is going to be great. If I were to Kickstart it there would have been a fair amount of skepticism.
"Maybe in future years there is a model like that, but the way people can support it this year is by tuning in, coming out to Vegas, telling their friends about it."