Actually no "crime" has been committed. Hell Apple is in the UK to evade taxes. Games are games doesn't matter who plays them.
And as for waste it really depends on whether you are the fan, ballplayer or TV station in your scenario.
I prefer to be the manager in that analogy. Fan's loss is pretty much guaranteed, ballplayer wins but takes most of the risk, TV station wins with less risk than the player. Manager wins something whether player wins or loses and has very little risk.