So why does every NFL and MLB team have a chiropractor on staff and why does the US Olympic team also hire them specifically (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_chiropractic)? If it’s a sham, why would these athletes and their organizations take a risk, especially when money is on the line? Also from what I am reading, serious injuries from chiropractic practice is very rare, and so your claim of “injures more than it helps” seems off, or at least misleading.
It seems to me that your depiction of chiropractors isn’t the whole story. A practice may be framed as a pseudoscience but still be effective or worthwhile, perhaps?
The whole point of scams is that money is on the line, otherwise it would just be random woo. In fact early Chiropractic was explicitly framed as a belief from irrefutable doctrine and rejecting inferential reasoning, essentially claiming defence as religious freedom, in order to exempt it from being regulated as practicing medicine without a license. Most Chiropractors nowadays do incorporate a degree of scientific reasoning and evidence into their practice, but personally it's not clear to me to what extent this is genuine or just adopting the terminology to paper over the holistic wellness metaphysics claptrap with a veneer of respectability.
Personally, I'd rather go to a real physiotherapist.
People will do anything to get an edge up on the competition, even if the 'anything' is something dubious (placebo effect). I don't think we should look to the NFL as a source of medical truth. They have long papered over the dangers over a career in the NFL and the ensuing long term damage. The NFL, MLB, and Olympic teams are not authorities on medical advice. Their usage of chiropractic should not give rise to its credibility.
Massage may still feel worthwhile to the majority of people if it were also customary to drink a poison beforehand that makes 1% of customers deathly ill and just makes the other 99% feel a little weird. Most people will report "wow, that was a nice massage, and I definitely felt different afterwards", but how could you say there are any benefits beyond a simple massage, except perhaps a much heightened placebo effect? Chiropractic is risky, and strictly worse than massage or physical therapy. That's what you have to compare it with.
It seems to me that your depiction of chiropractors isn’t the whole story. A practice may be framed as a pseudoscience but still be effective or worthwhile, perhaps?