Giving away free coins would be fine if it were coming from the company or person. But it isn't. It comes from the reward pool and it given to them directly by the people who want the reward. It's a game of
"I'll give you some money if you give me some money" and this is what causes a band wagon effect and this is what undermines the system in place to prevent pile ons for rewards.
The point of curating is to find quality content that other people will like. By selling our votes we are choosing content that we have been bribed to choose instead of content that interests us.
It is voters deciding that coins from the reward fund should be given away (as part of a sports-themed concept that includes blogging, an element of gameplay, and wider distribution of rewards with a low barrier to participation).
It is no different than voters deciding that coins should be spent on a billboard, or a photoshoot, or developing a mobile app, helping to fund Steemfest, or paying a writer/blogger, or anything else.
That's the nature of this system. Voters decide to allocate rewards where they think it provides the most value. I and a good number of other voters think Steemsports giving away coins to players is a good use of reward funds. I don't even participate in the games most of the time.