As a returning player, one thing I think might make it better for new players is to have a staggered salary floor to begin with and to increase the period to 36 weeks. This would encourage players to slowly build up their team and buy players. Currently the best strategy is to not buy anyone for the first 24 weeks and invest in the arena or infrastructure. New players will naturally want to buy players and improve their team and results.
Possible structure would be:
00 - 11 weeks 00%
12 - 17 weeks 20%
18 - 23 weeks 40%
24 - 29 weeks 60%
30 - 35 weeks 80%
36 weeks onwards 100%