I just read this post discussing how gladiator combat would have worked in ancient Rome. It specifically discusses how a lanista supplied the editor with gladiators.
I'm curious about how this contract would work. Specifically the lanista would seem to risk having gladiators die. If this occurred in combat, I can see that just being a risk of the job; however, if the editor decided the losing gladiator should be killed, would the editor have to compensate the lanista for the loss?
Gladiatorial matches were often paid for by private wealth,^1 but they can be seen as a form of highly political conspicuous consumption. That is, it wasn't just about entertainment, it was about demonstrating the generosity of the benefactor to the civitas (community). Thus, the willingness to let a gladiator die was a way of demonstrating just how dedicated the benefactor is to the spectacles, as they are willing to take a considerable monetary hit for the sake of a better show. Beyond that, yes, the lanista would be compensated by the benefactor of the show.
^1 The question of private vs public spending on entertainment and civic matters on the ancient world is unbelievably fraught. The poster evidence from Pompeii seems to indicate private benefactors were dominant, but there is plenty of epigraphic evidence, particularly from Asia Minor, showing civic money was also part of this. Was the civic money simply the accumulated private wealth of the town councilors, or was it the extraction of public rents and tolls? Can't say. There could be regional differences, but just as likely is that our scanty evidencxe hdes a far more complex ancient reality.
I think you're far overestimating how often gladiators were supposed to die. Deaths from combat were rare because gladiators were ridiculously expensive. Accidents can and did happen, and gladiators were known to be very concerned about death in general, with many participating in death rings to pay for and attend each others' funerals should they die, but you weren't a dead man walking as a gladiator. You'd need to offer a significant purse to convince a lanista and the slave owner to participate in a fight to the death.