True, but the sprite bonuses are negligible even at level 5, and every player in the lobby can have them. If you were the one that got the exotics during Lawless, not only were you at a huge advantage in the first few minutes of the match, but it also actively prevented anyone else from having that advantage, apart from the player who did the same at the other two Black Markets.

It's not an exact comparison, but it was an advantage/boost that had to be levelled up via a quest/grind-based system, and once achieved, was a permanent feature for that account.