They are only "free" if you have the subscription. Normal Xbox Live members do not get them, ie. they have to pay for Gold membership if they want them. This is not flawed logic. Sure, they are
bonuses, but they are not truly for free. You have to pay for the service through which you get them. You don't get them unless you are paying Microsoft money. How is that free? The same with your hypothetical example there. You don't get those PPVs without handing money over to the cable company in the first place. Again, it's not free, it's an added bonus, and one that is there only to keep you paying, and get more people subscribing. I'm not saying it's bad practise, getting some added bonus benefits when you're paying for something is great. I'm just saying it's not really free, it just
seems like it is to the paying customer.
Although kudos to MS for letting you keep the games. I'm not really for having to pay for PS+ anyway, just to make that clear.