I agree, but in itself, crowdsourcing is a good idea to establish relationships.
Companies are only going to obtain great ideas and designs by offering the incentives - we designers are in this for the long haul as well.
A first prize for a product design project needs to be at least $10k, and by offering a series of prizes you generate much more incentive as well, upping the chances. Why not offer also a $3k second prize, a $1k third prize, and $200 worth of the company’s products for the 4-10th prize.
That will chance the game completely as designers will go through more extensive research, concept development and even testing/prototyping processes resulting in innovations that have a chance on the market.