Squad arena has 20,000 players who hit level 28 at around the same time, and you’re guaranteed crystals, even though you get more when you’re in the top 200 or so.
Fleet arena has 2,000 players who hit level 60 around the same time, and only the top 20 get crystals. Everyone gets ship building materials, fleet store currency, ship training droids, and sim tickets. While everyone gets the same number of sim tickets (you’ll never run out of them again), you’ll get more of everything else with better rank. If you put some effort into building up your pilots and ships, you can be either close to or inside the top 20 within a week of unlock, unless you have a really competitive shard. And if you put a significant effort into farming the best ships and pilots, you can get to top 10, top 5, or even #1 in time (or sooner, if you spend money).
