T$ are dead on Stars. I think it makes sense to not reward strict Sat grinding (especially when you give away so much in equity, you want that to end up in the Big BTC so you don't pay overlay aswell).

That being said, the way it's set up now is not great, I agree. Personally, I think your first entry should be must-enter and the ones after should be 10k tickets. Yes, you may lose 2-3 entries to the Big BTC that way, BUT you'll vitalize your regular MTT schedule that way. The goal for you, hopefully, is to have this hype spill over to the regular schedule.

Now, would you be willing to consider creating a "SWC tournament series" around this Big BTC? One tournament is just not as hype as a week full of tournaments worth playing. They don't even have to have that ambitious of guarantees.. just have like 3 tournaments a day (5-10k, maybe a 25k "highroller") the week leading up to and culminating in the Big BTC MAIN EVENT! With some general feeders into them. Additionally, that way some additionally people will bink earlier tournaments and have the money to spent in the Big BTC.

If you need suggestions on a concrete schedule, hmu.