24 is great, but at the end of the day it comes down to how many are really committed to playing live. If that number is 16, then 16 is better than 24. If we can get to 20, that's great too, but not if the additional 4 aren't really going to play live anyway.
I would probably take a 2nd team as this looks like a fun idea and it's only a one season committment.