The reward doesn't kill the fun... it makes it interesting and possibly more competitive.

Exactly. I think the same. Not having fun will make it monotonous and boring.

This is a platform that monetizes publications. We are actively publishing in the Football Community. If we don't publish, the Community shuts down. That's why I think some publications should be better rewarded.

This is the crux of the matter. For a community to survive, people need to publish out of passion, not for rewards, in my opinion. In my opinion, steemit is a social networking platform better than fb or instagram because by creating super publications (the ones that reach the audience), the platform rewards you. Publications are rewarded by curators. In my opinion, curators divide into those who actively participate (you, me, other participants of the game like @bunker.universe) and those who subjectively assess the value of the publication, e.g. @steemcurator01, @steemcurator02, etc..
The power of curators ultimately determines the existence of a given community ... We, as little curators, can actively seek people to join the community.
In my conclusion: An interesting community will exist even without remuneration, but it needs creators and recipients with passion and fun :)

In my personal case, I have fun with predictions and fooball talks.

This place is great because we gain different views about us enjoying ...

I like talking with you.
Here should be the communicator steemit on the platform - unless I do not know about it yet ...