They’re not “playing a game.” They are in the entertainment industry and there are TV networks, sponsors, and fans paying billions of dollars in total to broadcast them, advertise with them, and watch them.
Should all that money just stay in the owners’ pockets, or should the actual entertainers get their fair share of the pie?
And to that point, unlike all those other entertainers, athletes are doing more damage to their bodies, than any of those other entertainers listed (well, maybe not as much damage as those working with Alec Baldwin).