That would be a tough one to compute, because with an unbracketed event you can gauge total number of players far more easily. AFAIK, there’s no way to determine exactly how many brackets are running for any given bracketed event. So, in terms of raw number of covers it would be tough to tell. We’re also comparing very different types of events, but it’s fun to break these things down, so let’s try.
Much easier to guesstimate based on percentages and assume the same number of entrants:
I believe there’s somewhere in the mid 90K-100K range participating in the Hulk event. Let’s round that up to 100K for ease of use, and compare that against percentages for Predator and Prey with a bracket size of 500. For comparison’s sake, let’s say Predator and Prey has the same hypothetical 100K entrants.
Hulk: X-Force + 3xThor - 200 places (.2% of players)
vs.
Predator/Prey: X-Force + 3xHood - 1 place (.2% of players)
Hulk: 3xThor - 800 places (.8% of players)
vs.
Predator/Prey: 3xHood - 4 places (.8% of players)
Hulk: 2xThor - 2333 places (2.33% of players)
vs.
Predator/Prey: 2xHood - 5 places (1% of players)
Hulk: 1xThor - 3333 places (3.33% of players)
vs.
Predator/Prey: 1xHood - 40 places (8% of players)
Hulk: 3xWolvie2* - 6666 places (6.66% of players)
vs.
Predator/Prey: no comparable reward tier
Hulk: 2xWolvie2* - 6666 places (6.66% of players)
vs.
Predator/Prey: no comparable reward tier
Hulk: 1xWolvie2* - 6666 places (6.66% of players)
vs.
Predator/Prey: 1xStorm - 150 places (30% of players)
So, for our hypothetical 100K entrants playing both events there will be more total 2*+3* covers given out in the PvE unbracketed event:
Hulk: 200 4* covers, 11000 3* covers, 40000 2* covers
vs.
Predator/Prey: 200 4* covers, 9800 3* covers, 30000 2* covers
Hulk event is the clear winner here… or is it?
It actually turns out that if your goal is to land at least one cover from a given * rating, it’s actually more generous in the bracketed PvP environment:
Hulk: .2% get at least 1-4*, 6.66% get at least 1-3*, 20% get at least 1-2*
vs.
Predator/Prey: .2% get at least 1-4*, 10% get at least 1-3*, 30% get at least 1-2*
So, raw number of covers? Victory to unbracketed PvE. Chance to land a certain level of cover? Edge to bracketed PvP.
Edit: When you consider the timeframes here, the edge goes wildly towards PvP as a cover generator for the community assuming the same number of entrants per event. Even if each PvP had only a 1/3 of the entrants of a PvE, you could run 3 2/3 PvP tourneys in the time it takes to run one PvE event, so PvP is far and away the bread and butter, while PvE is a better ISO generator and place to compete for new characters.