There's always next year, Yao! I'd love to go to Japan, but my work schedule barely allows me to have one weekend off per month, so I doubt I'd have time for a trip to the land of the rising sun.
Pope, Dark Geese has done probably everything he can to promote SNK games in the States (he's a good player, too). I think it's probably easier to have successful events in Mexico due to them having a thriving scene there for quite some time...KOF has always been big down there. I still think it would be cool to have a large once-a-year SNK tournament here in the US.