After seeing Gamer, I'm reminded of this often used genre trope. It's Exactly What It Says On The Tin, frequently a Blood Sport or Reality TV show that is so deadly no one could possibly condone a willing innocent participating... but a willing death row inmate, or possibly Life Without Paroler's? Somehow it's okay. Frequently, the prize is a literal Get Out Of Jail Free Card... which ought to bother regular people, since the cons getting out will be battle hardened and pissed off. Or it would, if any of them actually survived. The game itself is, of course, rigged for the contestants to lose. Except, of course, for the one innocent man who was framed to get him specifically into the show.