One of the problems in tournaments is that an average stack has very few options available to them after the first level. By the time the second level comes around players are already behind the 8 ball. They might have increased their stack size but actually lose ground to the increased blind levels. If tournament directors increased the starting stack sizes they would in fact see more action and more flops as a result. The strategy of the average stack is not about playing poker but about survival. Give players enough chips at the beginning levels so that they are interested in playing more hands preflop due to implied odds. By increasing implied odds to play it will increase action beyond one level of play.
There are several ways to increase participation. Let's stop cramming 10 players around a table. A decrease in the number of players lowers starting hand selection. The players will be faced with the blinds more often and waiting around is no longer as viable of a strategy. No limit poker was meant to be played 9 handed. Another aspect to this proposal is that there might be more alternates at the beginning of the tournament. This will also allow players to get to know their opponents a little longer and reward the players who do sign up early for the tournament. It will lessen the luck of the draw at least for a while by keeping tables together. By having more alternates and keeping the same number of tables there won't be a need for more dealers at the beginning.
Another way to increase action is to raise the size of the antes. Antes that are 1/8th to 1/6th of the big blind are not big enough. Increasing the antes also increases the size of the pot. The incentive for players to steal the pot is higher but it also players will need to defend their blinds more frequently as well. Forcing more action with fewer players at the table and bigger pots initially will insure that the tournament will progress at a slightly faster rate to make up for the bigger stack sizes that players started with. There is less incentive to wait. It forces the smaller stack to gamble in a tournament rather than holding on by a string and hoping to get dealt a premium hand.
Once the tournament does get down to the final few tables then reverting to a slightly slower structure by allowing antes to stay at the same amount until it is back to the 1/8th to 1/6th size is easy enough to do. We need to give the final 18 to 27 players more time to play poker and even more play at the final table. This is not that much to ask given that there is less need for dealers with only several tables in play and the overall cost to the poker room is small. There will still be plenty of tables available for the daily tournament to commence play and allow some skill to return to tournament poker. Playing hot and cold situations and coin toss situations was never meant to be an important factor in major tournaments at the final table. For some reason, this is all we do from the 2nd or 3rd level of play until the last card is dealt. Poker Lottery should not determine our fate. Let's add some skill back into tournament poker rather than just flipping coins all day.
