Players worry about spending because they have only a few trophies available to them. League + Cup.
If there was a BB3 equivalent for all Division 2 winners or Division 3 winners (Division 4/5 would be too many teams) - this would encourage promotion and also you would imagine encourage more teams to fiercely compete at all costs.
I really, really like the idea of more competitions. Back in the small fish/big fish debate I originally brought up that I would like to see other shadow tournaments to the B3. To take it even further, there is still room for more competitors in the B3 (hence the fact that some teams get a 1st round bye).
So how to fill the spots for the B3? First, I would not re-invite past winners of the B3. Just because they win it one year does not mean anything about future years.
Then, continue with the cup and league winners making it. Fill the remaining spots through world ranking. And if at some point the # of winners gets too large, drop teams with the lowest world ranking.
As for the shadow tournament(s), those spots could be filled once again using world ranking.
I know that the world ranking has some issues. But that could also be worked on. ;-)
Run of the Mill Canadian Manager