As a distant-future feature, it would be nice if the player could opt to watch matches in the arena. At first they'd have to pay, but once they're champion they get free tickets. Their ship would be removed and stored until the arena was clear and they'd have the viewpoint that spectators would have. Matches would either be 1V1, or the all-against-all swarm battles that the player starts out with.

Wrecks would need to be cleared after each spectated battle to prevent clutter and avoid potential exploits with infinite loot.

This isn't a very useful feature, but it'd be a nice touch and add some life into the arena. Might even be able to be tied into the Syndikat in some way (if BM, allow gambling on it?). It'd also allow peeps to see what they're getting in to before signing up.