If you truly think that a tiny extra surplus of Trophy Crystals at the end of a season and the fundamentally equal Battle Pass EXP is what drives Ranked participation in the first place then you are out of your goddamn mind.
Yes you can get Series EXP and Trophy Crystals just as well from Ranked as you can from Casual, but that is not justification, that is an issue. If you see a benefit from having more competent games, great! But other than that Series EXP and Trophy Crystals are no more reason to do Ranked than to do Casual. If they improve Trophy Crystal vendor, it will drive more engagement in PvP in general with Ranked only receiving a scrap share of this, due to path of least resistence being Casual.
This isn't me assuming shit, this is me comparing both modes and their rewards, restrictions and benefits.
Also lowkey annoyed of the bullshit narrative that exclusive stuff purely attracts elitists as you call them.