In terms of commentary, the discussion about the characters needs to slow down. We need to start focusing on the players instead. It was understandable to discuss characters first since the game was new, and the players were not well known. However I think successful commentary is centered around those who are partaking in the match up. For instance, if you have Mike's Kabal against Maxter's Cyrax you could throw in a little discussion about each player and their accomplishments during downtime. While a match is going on, all attention should be towards the match. For those who watch football, think about what the commentators discuss and at what times.
Another issue is stream chat. While it's nice that everyone watching can talk to each other I don't think the commentators should be able to see it and/or interact with it. This takes away from the actual event and lowers the professionalism of a stream.
As of late I don't really watch streams anymore due to professional issues, or I am physically at the tournament. I believe these adjustments will not only increase stream viewers, but gain Mortal Kombat respect amongst more developed games like Marvel and SF.
For events outside the normal pools/top8... I think teams is the next thing we should look into. Teams can be based around city/region or just friends vs friends. It's a more dynamic way to create hype and a good post event to the main tournament. Money matches are nice, but should be restricted to situations that are really worth it. If some random guy came up to me and challenged me to a money match, I wouldn't take it. Not because I would be worried of losing, but because this person means nothing to me. However when I go over to Scotland this summer I would love to put $20.... err... euros down against Ketchup.
