What if instead of being safe from relegation, the 5th place team plays the 8th place team in the other bracket and the loser being relegated? I also think it would be interesting to see a crossover in the playoffs, so that if the 2 best teams are in the same division, they will have a chance to meet each other in the finals instead of meeting in the semifinals.
From the point of money, i don't like the final of the season anyway. For example me as a first round looser, will get around ~130k. The one who wins a 3 round relegation will get 600-700k.The champion will have earned something around 1,2 Miollions, which is a huge advantage against the 3-5th team. And in the season the income differs a lot too, so i hard the top teams