Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) is from Red Bank, NJ. My vote: get him and Jason Mewes to emcee the event with a live Smodcast of the proceedings. It would certainly be a lot more fun than the radio station dickheads who made a mockery of a previous KO and just annoyed people. I don't know how this would help with sponsorship and prize money except to say Kevin Smith can talk other people into anything when he thinks something is cool, so maybe the sponsorships and prize money would follow somehow.
He lives in the Hollywood Hills but has been known to host frequent events in Red Bank, so if he was involved with the KO4 a small army of his followers would descend upon Richie's place for a really fun weekend.
Forgot to mention that Kevin Smith owns a comic book store,
Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, in Red Bank. (
Wikipedia link for the store.) The store is also home to the AMC television series "
Comic Book Men," which is still airing. (
Wikipedia link.) If we're really lucky, not only will Kevin be interested in attending the KO4 and sponsoring it via his store, maybe "Comic Book Men" will make an episode out of it. Presto: AMC potentially could become a sponsor as well. Suddenly $10k-$20k in prize money doesn't sound so implausible.
By the way, Red Bank is only an hour from Flemington and it's even closer to Richie's Bridgewater location.
I don't know how to get in touch with Kevin Smith but the dude is an internet whore and would be far easier to reach than most famous people. Hell, just call the store in Red Bank or send him a Twitter message.