I think the playerbase requirement to sustain it would actually be easier, because there is also a gain in flexibility, namely that if your ranked diamond crystal games don't pop, then you can instead go and play on a job you have at a lower rank to try the queues there instead, which is something you can't currently do unless you have an alt precisely placed in different ranks. This would also offer incentives for people to play more once they just reach their rank goal with their main job for the season.