as a tanker, let me say my own motivation was to build a team from scratch that fit completely with my understanding of the game -- an honorable motive, if i may say. (i was trapped in DII, and saw no reasonable way to advance, but only a path towards eventual relegation. i was barely competitive, with older players, small arena, and no training program. i had done all i could to win DIII, and when i advanced, i saw i had not sufficiently planned for the next level.)
that was some three-four seasons ago. my plan is well underway, and while i will not claim to have watched it unfold flawlessly, i do see a team emerging that fits my ideas and my stadium will eventually produce much greater revenues -- in other words, my rebuild is succeeding.
but i hated, absolutely hated not fielding a competitive team my last season in DII, in part because i think we all enjoy the competition, but it was a necessary step. i did take a severe hit to my attendance that season and the next -- all told, revenues for a home game dropped 50% -- but i was always careful to at least field a team.
with that as background, i would suggest a simple change, and let the coaches deal with it: no penalty for tanking, just a very severe penalty (in attendance and tv revenues) for not fielding a full team for any game.