I think SM has a decent pay structure in some games. I seen / see some that paid top 12 / 16 and I think they need to stick to that model for smaller/mid level prize pools but I think the bigger paying games need to ...

(1) Pay more places.
(2) be reduced in prizes slightly and the extra funds used to create more tournaments at random levels. Currently (with a quick view of the lobby) it looks like one Diamond/Gold level big game is worth about the same of the rest of the game included in a weeks schedule.