It seems like it gives you "respect" which is basically diplomatic relations. If you have a ton of it, you can *spend* it to open a jump gate. 500, the only time I was given the option so far, but it might vary.

It does seem like it would take a long time, though. I don't know if the rewards for higher-tier arena fights would be more worth it.

The fights themselves grant you Rez, but with diminishing returns for repeating a fight.

I have no idea if any of those benefits are compelling enough, but that's all I know of.

Just Rez & respect like mothwentbad already said. Late game you find other ways to gain respect.

One can always attack the bounty hunter base to have some ships to spawn. ;)

If you've built up a large bounty and the bounty hunters are pestering you all the time, you can win arena fights to lower your bounty by the amount of respect you earn in arena combat. Win enough arena fights (and respect) and you can temporarily drop your bounty to zero.





SORTA SPOILER below









Toward the end of the game I leave the bounty high so they DO come around more. At that point, crewmen are tougher to replace so having human ships to fight against will come in handy.

In SPAZ you Want to have a decent bounty, or even an hight one, Why? Ship Designs

A few pretty good ship designs can Only be acquired by defeating bounty hunters ships, plus the extra crew and rez make it worth it