Mixing Ranked/Leagues/Tournaments whit very high pay2win requirements/entry/aspects to have a little chance to win/progress, has/will never get any games very far, and has/will never ends well. It has to be skill based and not money based, you will never cater to a very high audience thinking this way, and will always stay little and eventually die.
If the goal is to not succeed, you are on the right path. If your goal is to try to get large player base involved, you already on the path of failing, no matter how many sponsored tournament you organize.
Don't get me wrong, the game is cool. I don't play to win, I play to have fun FIRST. But putting someone who put hundred and sometimes thousands of $$ against ppl who don't will never work very well in the long run. well first it's not fun and it's a design which will end by a dead game.
I know you'll all think I am crazy saying that, but casual should be where your unbalanced whales team plays, let them have a leaderboard where they can win money if it's what they want at all cost. But any e-sport competitions should have the same characters for every contestants. Otherwise, there is no point to even try to compete in it.
Just my 2 cents.
Sorry about my english.