I think it detracts from the game, and don't like the idea that careers can be cut short by such focus. Ticket-holders want to see the good players on the field, as do the sponsors (and the TV audience) that make it possible.
I also understand the immense pressure to win that is responsible for such activities. A couple of years ago I sat in the owner's suite at a late-season NFL game. The wives and SO's of the coaching staff wives had also been invited to the suite for that game, and the coaching staff was in a precarious situation due to the win-loss record. The tension was palpable, and the agony of each failed play was evident. The head coach is now a TV commentator.
I will also admit having used similar small bonus pools as incentives for highly-compensated staff members in the securities and investment banking business. But whatever they earned from those cash bonuses was reported on the appropriate IRS paperwork.