SPS staking should have been a great opportunity to get people excited... instead it seems like these huge requirements are switching people off.
Put it this way... I have 3.7k staked SPS and there are only about 7500 people in the world with more SPS staked than me according to peakmonsters.
How about a regular snapshot of staked SPS before each season starts (numbers can be whatever work). Top 200 stakers qualify to play Champ 1, next 300 Champ 2 etc.
or use a less frequent snapshot to set SPS requirements if that works better.
since the team could set the number of players for each league, they could make return more consistent based on investment and allow most people to build their bag over time vs other players.