When the AAU ran bodybuilding, there was no money involved. Small contests were run on a shoestring, a black backdrop and a spotlight. The AAU officials, primarily lifters (P/L and O/L) ran the show, mainly after the lifting meets. The physique contest was part & parcel of the basic lifting atmosphere.
The IFBB/NPC/Weider Inc. were against everything that I mentioned in the first paragraph, and changed the sport slowly over the last 30 years.
The internet in the last decade has surely added to these factors as well.