Ted Yee of T&N Games in Burnaby, British Columbia (Canada) read about the outcry surrounding the Magic: The Gathering tournament changes (see "'Magic' Tournament Changes Stir Petition") and had this to say.

The level of frustration on various forums is certainly quite high but they also represent the smaller portion of the Magic population.  From my own little store, it appears nobody cares as these changes don't affect them at the store level.  I always tell people that while I might not always agree with these changes, it's pretty hard to argue against the consistent increase in sales.  Wizards of the Coast is a business; I have a business.  Anything that makes the numbers go up, is ALWAYS a good thing.  There's no spin that makes increased profits a bad thing unless it involves killing puppies, kittens or other cute small animals.

All the doom and gloom comes from people forecasting the downfall of high-level competition... something along the lines of all of the existing crop of "pros" quitting and everyone reverting to using subpar decks since there will be nothing good to plagiarize online.  The Magic community is resilient.  People can leave but there's always new people coming in.  People always threaten to quit after WotC makes any kind of change but it rarely happens and most of these changes always bring in more people than it gets rid of.  If this group of smart guys leave, a new group of smart guys will come in and take their place.

I understand that with these programs in limbo, the "pros" have a hard time planning their travel schedule for the year.  I can see their frustration with this but I suspect if they plan their schedule out as if no changes were coming, they'd be in the same situation anyways.  If not, they'll adjust. It's a little bit unfair but life isn't always fair.  I think having the chance to win tens of thousands of dollars playing a game they love and would play even if no money was on the line is pretty fair to begin with.

In any case, people have only heard half the story.  They heard "we're cutting these programs" and because they haven't heard what's taking their place, they're assuming it will be nothing.  WotC has only shown their absolute willingness to make the customers happy.  Why else would we be giving away free boosters at Magic Celebration and giving out endless promos for every other event?  They're not about to toss out 2 years of hard work and screw everyone over.

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