In my original plans (and still probably supported by lore), the "audience" would give commanders money based on action, or how exciting the battle is at a given moment (probably destruction + gold construction to some extent). I'm really stretching the definition of the word attraction here, but that would've at least affected the economy quite a bit.
As seen in the submitted game, I didn't quite get to that point. The whole economy, missile wave system, and even the 3200uom goal (although completely functional) were a bit rushed. Either way, happy you enjoyed it!