yeah i remember my first player event. i dint have more then 50 cents to my name.
i thought of something else to atract people. free "BLIND DATES" and turned out to be quite fun!
i remember once i wanted to host a tournament for low levels. $100million in prizes! not ONE person under lev10 showed up! 
so i think its more then $ that atracts people to any event.
but more about your case, get ahold of me and i'll see if can help ya out too! PM me or contact Catzi.