And so is most of the gambling. Whether poker, roulette or slot machines, a lot of people would tell you they're doing it for the pleasure.

But in a way, a lot of things are gambling - up to and including investing, particularly in startups. The desirability of a particular form of gambling in society is tied to the negative effects it has on people (e.g. how easy is it for a player to get addicted), and how exploitative the organizations operating a given game are. Under those metrics, fantasy sports are very much like lottery or one-armed bandit, and very much unlike investing.

And hell, it's not just about being condescending to people. I'm perplexed by how people tolerate, and even vocally support companies that intentionally fuck over poor people.

GP wasn't condescending at all but was merely pointing out how it's condescending and hypocritical to look down on people playing the lottery when the attitude is different wrt sports bets.

They are two very different things though. Even the OP acknowledges that's less about the outcome and more about the experience (which is the opposite for lottos).

Cutting right to the more meta part of the discussion, it's just false equivalency constructed that hits both a desire to dump on sports fans and find a way to make an absurdly irresponsible habit practiced mostly by lower income people more palatable.