Remember that it is only a very small number of players spending all that money for Gold League. Only 1% of all active players on a server get Gold. that means if there are 10,000 active cities, only 100 of them are in Gold. And with Silver so far behind Gold this time, that next 4% of people, or another 400 cities, spent anywhere from some free diamonds up to not quite enough money to finish in Gold. Going on that, I don't see how anyone can say "lots of people" spent money, when most people would think that lots would also be a majority, rather than a tiny amount less than 5%.