Cash Money Prize League: Or, Stop Nitpicking Everything

Yesterday I posted a thread on Twitter about an idea for a league built around making sure teams have a low cost and prize money. It was not meant to be in anyway a comprehensive, detailed idea, just the bones of one.

But the nitpicking! My goodness, the nitpicking!

So, since it's Friday the week before Christmas and I have nothing else to do, here is a more detailed breakdown of the Cash Money Prize League.

16 Teams, 2 divisions, 8 teams per division, promotion and relegation, 14 games per season. 

$1,500 per year. $500 to the league for operations, support, website, etc. $1,000 into league play prize pool. 

League Play Prize Pool: $16,000. 
First Division Champion: $10,000.
First Division Runner Up: $3,000.
Second Division Champion: $3,000.

All teams would live stream, so you could actually sell league naming rights because you could guarantee your sponsor consistent advertising. It wouldn't be a ton of money, but who knows? Maybe you can throw another $1,000 or $2,000 into the prize money pot? That could even turn into a little extra for the third place team, you never know.

Yes, I'm aware there are other costs related to running a team like field rental and referee costs. I do work for a club after all, so I'm very aware of that. 

The more league grows, the bigger the prize pot gets. By the time you reach 3 Divisions, you're looking at $22,000 in the prize pot.

Now, one argument I got was that teams would drop out after one year if all they had to play for was prize money. Teams drop out of leagues without it all the time, so the combination of promotion for second division teams and prize money for division champions would hopefully be enough to combat that kind of turnover. Maybe there's eventually a league, and a prize for winning that to give all the teams something to aim for?

One other thing: This league would automatically cover the costs of it's champion entering the US Open Cup and National Amateur Cup, which is $1,100 in entry fees and bonds, I believe, plus an extra $1,500 that the team can use as needed for each competition.

This mean you are looking at....
First Division Champion: $10,000 + covered entry cost for USOC & NAC, + $1,500 for expenses
First Division Runner Up: $3,000.
Second Division Champion: $3,000.

Now, there's big incentive to stick it out, bring your A game, and work to rise to the top, isn't there?

My only question now is, who wants to help me build this thing?