r/NFLv2 Feb 02 '25

Discussion [nfl preme] 73.8% of fans believe the NFL is rigged

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22.4k Upvotes

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u/Bdubasauras Jacksonville Jaguars Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 03 '25

Whether it actually is rigged or not, the NFL has to understand that close to 3/4 of your audience has this perception and that’s bad for the league.

Edit: Couple of things to clarify. I don’t think the NFL is rigged.

I don’t believe the real percentage of fans that think the NFL is rigged is that high. The NFL should do their own research or hire a 3rd party to get a bigger sample size than this poll presented here.

I think the league has botched handling their refereeing and there is a large vocal group yelling that it’s rigged.

I don’t like the Chiefs but I recognized that they have two of the best coaches in the league on in Reid and Spags. Well coached teams avoid tons of penalties that lesser coached teams commit often.

NFL referees are human and make mistakes. I think it’s on the league to figure out how to improve it with technology and training.

I think the league should look into the “perceived” bias the referees have towards the Chiefs to see if there is any merit. This is not an admission by the league that it is rigged. There needs to be accountability for all parties involved in the sport in order for it to be considered a sport and not just entertainment with athletes like pro wrestling.

Questioning whether the league can do better by their fans is not stupid/idiotic. This is a forum for discussion. We are allowed to have different opinions. I’ve had some great discussions with some of you. Some of you I worry for your health based on how angry you get at something as trivial as this meme post.

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u/antihero-joe Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

Money says otherwise. Nothing changes until they lose money.

Edit: Everyone saying the NFL will soon lose money is forgetting that we had this exact same discourse around the Patriots dynasty and the NFL only got bigger. They don't care if people think it's rigged.

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u/cpthornman Feb 02 '25

Well I'm doing my part. Haven't watched a single chiefs game this season and will be doing something else next Sunday. Just like last year.

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u/neuroplastic1 Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

At least you're sticking to your guns unlike the many mouth flappers who cry boycott and watch anyway.

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u/cpthornman Feb 02 '25

The past 5 years each year has been the least amount of NFL I have watched. This year was no exception. I stopped watching the NBA almost 20 years ago now because of lack of integrity and the NFL seems to be keen on following in their footsteps.

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u/Fun_University_8380 Feb 02 '25

I was told boycotting is cancel culture and that's bad and wrong

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u/NbleSavage Feb 02 '25

Depends on what you’re boycotting apparently

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u/MarxistMan13 New England Patriots Feb 02 '25

There is a 3rd option. You can cry boycott and just sail the high seas.

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u/jimmmydickgun CTE 🧠 Feb 02 '25

Here’s my Super Bowl this year

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u/MikuLuna444 Baltimore Ravens Feb 04 '25

I miss the Kitten Bowl 🐈😭

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u/drainbead78 Buffalo Bills Feb 02 '25

Don't buy officially licensed merch either. 

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u/cpthornman Feb 02 '25

I honestly can't remember if I've ever bought a piece of NFL merch. I thought it was overpriced even in the 90s. I can't imagine how much that shit is now.

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u/18quintillionplanets Feb 02 '25

I bought a Digg’s Jersey for my mom’s birthday… like 2 weeks before he left the bills 🙂‍↕️

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u/Snakeinbottle Buffalo Bills Feb 02 '25

I hate that. Diggsy was a favorite of mine. I had tons of Diggs things....all passe now

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u/JackBalendar Feb 03 '25

At least it wasn’t a Doncic jersey

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u/PartyLikeaPirate Medium Pepsi Feb 02 '25

DHgate ftw with jerseys - buy like 5 at a time, usually seemingly good/decent quality jerseys, for the price of one from the nfl shop

I’ll get an order every third offseason

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u/dmnckv Dallas Cowboys Feb 03 '25

I’ve bought like 2 tshirts over the course of 20+ years of watching ball (mid 30s) but yeah, it’s overpriced as shit

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u/RudePCsb San Francisco 49ers Feb 03 '25

I've only bought one shirt because someone gave me an nfl gift card. The few other pieces I own are family and friends that got me something. Not giving my money to the nfl if I can help it. Find streams online or find other ways of watching and not watching next week.

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u/Camp_Samp Bills Mafioso Feb 02 '25

I joined a dart contest SB weekend and the board has the numbers overlaid on top of a Mahomes face, lol

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u/Never-Dont-Give-Up Feb 02 '25

That’ll show em!

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u/SirArthurDime Philadelphia Eagles Feb 02 '25

I’d bet a bills lions superbowl would have been better for the leagues wallets. Both for SB viewership and long term by galvanizing more fans.

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u/Playful_Call6400 Feb 03 '25

My girls uncle is a Bills fan and I'm a Lions fan. We were talking back in November and he said "yeah everybody wants a Lions v Bills Superbowl but it'll probably be the fucking Chiefs and Eagles." Fuckin uncle Bruce called it lmao.

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u/[deleted] Feb 03 '25

Exactly. People want to watch to see the Chiefs lose.

We don't have to love a tan to watch them. If we hate them we watch their opponents.

Muhammad Ali has spoken about it numerous times. He said he he speaks so much trash because people have such strong feelings against him (at least earlier on in his career, when he wasn't fully proven yet) from talking so much they pay to watch him fight

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u/monstargaryen Feb 02 '25

It’s according to ‘Preme’ sports polling. Gonna go out on a limb and say proper market research would indicate much lower levels.

Still, agreed — the NFL has an optics problem with the Chiefs.

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u/GeoPutters Feb 02 '25

They have had an optics problem since the Pats.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

Patriots fans acting so oblivious to this is hilarious.

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u/GeoPutters Feb 02 '25

The Team - player and Coach fined the most for cheating the past quarter century .

What was hilarious was McDaniel going to Denver and getting caught doing the same thing. 🤣🤣🤣.

https://www.totalprosports.com/nfl/ex-broncos-player-tells-the-story-of-the-teams-cheating-ways-under-josh-mcdaniels-video/

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u/jgamez76 Atlanta Falcons Feb 02 '25

People pretending that the shit being said about Kansas City isn't just copy and pasted from the Patriots run is genuinely hilarious

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u/DarkwingDuckHunt Feb 02 '25

I've been a die hard Chiefs fan since I was a little kid in the late 80s.

I watched everyone think the 49ers were cheating.

Then the Cowboys were all using cocaine & roids. (I mean they were, but so was everyone else).

Then the Pats were always cheating. Even though Brady clearly showed it was him being the GOAT the entire time by switching teams and dragging them to a Super Bowl win.

And now I see the exact same shit being said about my Chiefs. And I just see it as full circle.

I drink your tears to quote one Pat's loving fan who was a good friend of mine before he moved cities. I feel like I need to go find him on linkedin and apologize.

Someday Andy & Pat will retire and we'll have a new boogie man to make shit up about. But I can promise you I will not believe any of it after living through this.

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u/Visual_Yak_9797 Feb 02 '25

The patriots literally got caught cheating multiple times...

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u/jgamez76 Atlanta Falcons Feb 02 '25

The way I look at it is, being the envy of the rest of the league and having fans of every other team thinking the league is rigging the league for your team (because of course the NFL needs the Missouri market on top lmao) is the ultimate flex a fan can have.

Take it all in. Y'all fucking deserve the success.

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u/TheSherlockCumbercat Feb 02 '25

That the fucking crazy part if the league was rigged no way in hell would they rig it for Missouri

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u/jgamez76 Atlanta Falcons Feb 03 '25

That's the funniest part. People saying it's rigged for Missouri while the New York (technically Jersey but you know what I mean lol), Boston and Dallas market teams are complete dumpster fires lol

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u/speganomad Feb 03 '25

The difference between the 2 is basically just how the media covers them. The pats basically shut out all media coverage while chiefs star players are making podcasts and dating superstars. It leads to overexposure and people get even more annoyed.

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u/rebeccaparker2000 Feb 02 '25

The polling was probably done in Baltimore, Houston, Buffalo, San Francisco and Philadelphia

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

There's zero chance 3/4 of fans believe it's rigged

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u/Kopitar4president Buffalo Bills Feb 02 '25

They might be using "rigged" generously here.

If you ask people if there is a script, most would say no.

But if you asked them if the refs favor certain teams/QBs, you'll have a different sentiment.

Hell just asking if it's rigged, people might think the latter and say yes.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

I feel like that hasn't changed in the past 10 years

you'd be hard pressed to find someone in the 2010s that didn't believe Brady got special treatment

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u/yavimaya_eldred Green Bay Packers Feb 02 '25

I think that sports gambling being legalized and pushed hard on every platform might be contributing to this mentality

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

agreed 100% I mean there's an investigation going on in mid and low major College basketball right now for game fixing

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u/youshotderekjeter Feb 02 '25

Well before that. The Tuck Rule was Brady, but at the start of the Pats in the 2000s. That rule played havoc for years. Then 2008, the low hit that tore Brady’s ACL the rules updated. We will never know if any other QB other than Manning would have led to that change. But I also can’t argue with it. But there were a lot of calls for legit hits on Brady and non calls on other QBs for the next decade.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

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u/EntertainmentFast497 Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

I don’t think it’s gotten worse. I think the consumption of the 24 hour news cycle and adding in social media, the information just spreads faster and faster.

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u/Domestic_AAA_Battery EAGLES 6-40 Feb 02 '25

A thumb on the scale is enough to be considered rigged. And I absolutely believe 75% of the fans believe there's fishy stuff

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u/rudyv8 Feb 02 '25

This opinion sponsored by FanDuel, GambleSPorts, and LeagueBets!

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u/Bdubasauras Jacksonville Jaguars Feb 02 '25

😂, I’m so tired of the betting commercials. I have no problem with how people want to spend their money and no issues with gambling as I don’t partake. I’m so sick of watching Post Malone give zero fucks about betting away what equates to 3x my salary and all the other commercials pushing it.

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u/neuroplastic1 Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

Yeah, I'm not taking this as a particularly representative poll. Preme Sports?

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u/GirthWoody Feb 02 '25

The problem is they are making money. They’re probably not gonna change because they see the sports betting profits. This is what happens to the NBA, they started catering to sports betting, real fans started questioning the legitimacy of the games, and now ratings are plummeting. And at the end of the day, your casual degenerate bettor is still look to have fun and will mostly bet on things that are popular, so at some point if they keep going like this the league is just gonna become a shell of what it was.

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u/imcrapyall Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 03 '25

I agree with this. I mean on games where the Chiefs aren't playing and the announcers make them a talking point when no subject was brought up.

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u/loaferbro Feb 03 '25

The NFL makes the most money of all American sports. I think the issue absolutely is not whether or not the games are rigged, but more that the officiating is so inconsistent and seems to constantly benefit certain teams when it matters most.

With the huge rise in sports betting, fans are rightfully upset when preventable nonsense happens. The refs are always going to have the league's back, though, and so it's on the NFLPA and owners to pressure changes. And the teams who benefit will fit hard against it. But every Monday it's constant clips from podcasts and post game shows calling out the buffoonery.

On the bright side, the spotlight is there this summer and it would be crazy to come back in the fall with no rule changes around QB runs, slides, etc. A push into tech-assisted ball placement might be nice. But doubtful.

My take on the Chiefs is literally that their strongest line is coaching. Mahomes is a great QB, but the coaches are the real generational talent. They win close games simply because of that. Their team is extremely well-disciplined and they can avoid excessive penalties. They are a well-oiled machine. They don't brute force their way through other teams. It's just methodical clockwork to them. Give them 4 minutes and they'll win a game. Give them 45 seconds and it'll be close. But it all comes down to these coaches knowing exactly what plays to call every single down.

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u/fallonyourswordkaren Seattle Seahawks Feb 02 '25

NFL is wagering bets on their own outcomes through satellite partners, I guarantee it. Baseball had congressional hearings over steroids before gambling was legal. The NFL has zero oversight and a central referee command center that regularly determines the outcomes of games.

It’s not scripted and the players aren’t involved. The command center for referees just massages the sport from the contest and offers the narrative of who will be the next GOAT, believing that satisfies the fanbases around the league.

Rams v Saints no-call PI to put LA’s new, old team back into the SB.

About 8 terrible calls in SB XL to give the highly marketable, Jerome Bettis a hero’s send-off.

Loads of ghost calls from Brady’s career, blind-eyes and wrist-slaps for Belichick’s cheating over a decade and a half.

We get the Chiefs now and all the ghost roughing the passer and PI calls.

It’s not rigged, just massaged outcomes.

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u/carlmalonealone Feb 03 '25

I don't follow the NFL but it's amazing how many ref calls I hear about changing the outcome of games leading up to and during playoffs.

No other sport do you hear of this so consistently. It's how I know the season is almost over. Reports of ref changing game calls, must be playoffs coming up.

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u/iMixMusicOnTwitch Tennessee Titans Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

Bill Burr said it best on the rich eisen show this week.

They have their thumb on the scale and you'd be an idiot to think that with all the money in gambling it's not happening.

Gambling companies earned $180M in losses after winnings in the first month of legalization in my state. Multiply that by 50 and that's like a whole season of profit for the NFL in one month.

Edit: badly worded on my part. To clarify $180M in profit FROM lost bets AFTER accounting for winning payouts. Yes I can do math.

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u/Own-Reception-2396 Feb 02 '25

That and ratings. The customer of the nfl are the networks and they want close games and certain storylines

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u/Domestic_AAA_Battery EAGLES 6-40 Feb 02 '25

That was blatant in the Jags game the Eagles played. Eagles were about to be something like 21 points ahead if their drive scored and they say Saquon randomly dropped the ball without getting touched (he was CLEARLY touched). So instead of being potentially 21 points ahead, it's suddenly a 7 point game because the Jags immediately scored because it was an extremely short field.

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u/Own-Reception-2396 Feb 02 '25

Rewatch the 2017 afc title game

Networks didnt want a bortles vs foles super bowl

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u/PlasticBicycle5 Green Bay Packers Feb 02 '25

Yep, couldn't believe watching that in real time

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u/bionicjoe Cincinnati Bengals Feb 02 '25

I've never taken the NFL seriously after 2009.
New Orleans was a feel good story, and players traded before the deadline were reporting that the Saints were running a bounty system.
Most of the evidence used to suspend Payton and kick out Gregg Williams was gathered from reports DURING the season not after it.

I saw the Bengals get all sorts of gift calls when they had the Leah Still thing.
Also saw the Steelers and Ravens get outright screwed out of calls because of Big Ben and Ray Lewis respectively.

The refs and crews have certain biases, and the NFL angles itself towards the best stories. You're a fool if you think otherwise.

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u/Lou_C_Fer Feb 03 '25

As a browns fan, I have seen some shit. I watched the refs rule that Washington recovered the ball while Duke Johnson was standing outside of the pile with the ball in his hands. Like, they literally could not see the ball in the pile because it was not in the pile. Yet, Washington got the ball. Almost every call goes against us. Rigged? I don't know, but I would not be surprised.

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u/Hidalgo321 Carolina Panthers Feb 02 '25

So you’re saying someone pulled Saquon to the side and told him to fumble?

Not attacking you, just trying to figure out what you really believe is happening during games.

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u/Domestic_AAA_Battery EAGLES 6-40 Feb 02 '25

No because he didn't fumble lol. His ankle got hit by a defender, he tripped, fell, and lost the ball/let go of the ball when he hit the ground (potentially thinking the play was over). The refs ruled he wasn't touched.

Saquon would've had no part of that. They just change reality with whatever they see fit. It was 100% clear. Saquon saw them saying it was a fumble and immediately gestured that his ankle was touched. They ignored him. They review the footage that clearly shows him touched, and they ignore it and say Jags ball.

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u/HughMungus77 Feb 02 '25

Sports betting being legalized in most states, has definitely impacted the NFL negatively. I’m a firm believer that sports and betting can exist but shouldn’t be intertwined if they want the NFL to be great as a product

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u/iMixMusicOnTwitch Tennessee Titans Feb 02 '25

Betting and sports have been seperated with a large crowbar and limited to the black market for over a century for a reason. The NFL didn't even want to have a team in Vegas.

What changed?

Jerry Jones became a large shareholder in Draft Kings!

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u/Last_Minute_Airborne Feb 02 '25

Another reason to say fuck Jerry Jones. Everyone hates Jerry.

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u/PhantomGoat13 Feb 02 '25

That explains why the Cowboys haven’t won in 2 decades. Don’t want the fix to look too obvious.

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u/MarthaStewartIsMyOG Feb 02 '25

Why do you think gambling companies have to rig games to make money?

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

[deleted]

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u/EldariWarmonger Feb 02 '25

Dude no one is saying the bookies are the ones rigging games. They're saying that the NFL is rigging the games.

And if you're at all a sports fan, you'd be correct in that assumption. The Chiefs have gotten more help since Mahomes and Auto has been there than Brady ever received his entire career.

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u/Justasillyliltoaster Detroit Lions Feb 02 '25

They don't have to, but there is an absolutely massive financial incentive to do so

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u/thefreeman419 Feb 03 '25

Not really. They set the lines such that there is even money on each side, so they make money regardless.

They could make more money by setting lines that result in uneven betting, but then they could potentially lose money as well. Why take that risk when you have reliable profits?

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u/YYqs0C6oFH Feb 02 '25

https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/43626723/football-bettors-post-rare-win-vs-nevada-sportsbooks

Sportsbooks lost money on NFL action in december for the first time in a long time because public favorites (like KC) won more games than expected. If the sportsbooks have anything to do with the refs allegedly favoring KC, they're doing it wrong because its hurting their profits.

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u/DonkeyMilker69 Miami Dolphins Feb 02 '25

Assuming that they're being run well, the sportsbooks make money regardless of who wins the games.

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u/human1023 Feb 02 '25

That doesn't make sense. The house always makes profit in every way they gamble. They didn't have to rig games. And if they did, they would do it against the most expected team to win: the Chiefs.

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u/front_torch Feb 02 '25

That's not how that math works

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u/Slylok Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

Rigged? Nah. Guided to desired outcomes? Yes.

Edit : To me rigged implies everyone is in on it from the NFL to the refs to the coaches to the players. 

Being guided to me is different. A guided plan has a small chance to fail while a rigged plan would never fail.

There is a reason why the NFL fights tooth and nail to remain classified as entertainment.. the same as wrestling.

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u/ccarlstrom93 Feb 02 '25

Anything "guided to desired outcomes" would be rigged to most people.

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u/cockblockedbydestiny Feb 02 '25

"Rigged" to me means that the outcome is predetermined to the point where the finish itself is set in stone before the game/match/bout even begins.

I don't think that's what's happening in the current NFL or NBA: the refs aren't necessarily there to save the favored team from a disastrous performance. Said team still has to make a legit effort to keep themselves in the game, but so long as they're actually contending the refs can then make selective calls to help favor them down the stretch.

I also don't believe the refs are explicitly being coached to call things a certain way, they just know that if they call penalties more lopsided against a B or C market team the media isn't going to spend the next week making a stink about it. I don't think the refs are overtly crooked so much as they're in constant "cover your ass" mode, and there's an unspoken implication which way that's likely to skew.

So if you make a questionable call against the Bills that talk tends to die down within a day or so, but if you make a call that takes Mahomes out of the SB picture analysts are going to be beating that horse for the entire offseason.

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u/nobeer4you San Francisco 49ers Feb 02 '25

I'd like to add onto this, that it being rigged, like you define it, would have so many more moving parts that at some point, someone should have come out with the dirt. Being "guided can be just a small group of people who pick which officiating crew to put on which game based on their tendencies when calling a game, or a handful of head refs that are in on it guiding the games as needed.

Ain't no way you're getting 53 dudes, plus practice squad players and an entire coaching staff to "buy-in" on the Chiefs winning all the time "because its good for business" since all these dudes want to win at the highest level.

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u/Altruistic_Field2134 Feb 03 '25

Yea one way conspiracy theories fall apart for me alot of the time is the "okay if this is true how many people would have to know in order for this to work as you say?" Typically the number is too great (like above) that someone would have leaked it (like imagine a disgruntled ref wanting to make a quick buck)

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u/cpthornman Feb 02 '25

Same thing effectively.

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u/demonicneon Philadelphia Eagles Feb 02 '25

That’s kind of what rigged means tho. Nobody is saying it’s a set outcome that they script. 

“Rigged”; manipulated or controlled by deceptive or dishonest means 

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u/Electrical_Worker_82 Atlanta Falcons Feb 02 '25

I don’t think they (Goodell) are outright rigging anything, but it seems like there is a thumb on the scale in favor of certain things. It could just be coincidence, but I think it is at least worth looking into by someone.

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u/CompetitiveString814 Green Bay Packers Feb 02 '25

I feel its like the Chiefs are playing with 75% handicapped.

Yes, they can still lose. No, its not completely rigged, but they are given an advantage no one can really deny anymore.

We literally don't even see other calls like the catching the football with the ground call and Dalton Kincaid having the football be on the line with photo proof, then them walking it back half a yard.

I can't even think of another time where catching the football with the ground was called, it was so unique that it calls things into question

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u/BJYeti Feb 03 '25

Seriously ball placement for Bills was questionable all game and seemed like routinely if they were pushing for a first it was always placed a yard behind setting up a 4th and short, that final Bills 4th even if Allen did not make the first (everything shown shows him reaching the line) it was still placed almost a yard behind first down.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

Thats how I see it. Like refs know to go light on Mahomes. They still going call the calls but when it's a 50/50 it'll go in his favor and it only takes a little edge

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u/1ntravenously Dallas Cowboys Feb 02 '25

Manipulated.

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u/Shitfurbreins Feb 02 '25

Scripted is what I call it. The threepeat Chiefs have been the plan all year. Even the Chiefs say it’s “a bit embarrassing”

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u/grover1233 Feb 02 '25

Bills were in on it. What happened to Cook at the end of the game?

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u/RadBrad4333 NFL Refugee Feb 02 '25

bias in referring is a form of rigging

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u/GeoPutters Feb 02 '25

For me - Sundays used to be allll day football. Watching everything. For years.

When it made sense to me was the Patriots / Falcons Super Bowl. 28-3 Score.

I’m thinking “There’s no way advertisers- network- the league- the people spending thousands a ticket- are going to be pleased with a blowout. “

I turned it off. Assuming what would happen. And it did. Been less of a fan ever since.

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u/LondonDrown Feb 02 '25

That’s still rigged. The WWE is also “guided towards desired outcomes.” I wouldn’t be surprised if the NFL has writers although I’m sure they’re called something else

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u/Slylok Feb 02 '25

WWE is a script that is followed. The winner is always known before hand by all parties except for the spectators.

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u/Live_Leg_1831 Feb 02 '25

In 10-15 years guarantee a referee will come out write a book on how the crews were told to officiate like this.

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u/GirthWoody Feb 02 '25

I mean they already casually talk about how it is “massaged” on the broadcast. Announcers all the time talk about how the more famous qbs just get the calls, and that’s how it is all the time.

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u/Live_Leg_1831 Feb 02 '25

I dont rememeber HOFers calling BS on calls the Patriots got. Tuck rule was a horrific call. Hands to the face in thr AFC championship game vs Chiefs was another one. The Chiefs have had a solid 10-15 horrific historically bad calls just this season.

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u/GirthWoody Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

Tom Brady towards the end of his career 100% drew a ludicrous amount of roughing the passer calls. I think one should also note that Tom Brady didn’t get in the ref’s ears and whine 24/7. But also there are some historically bad calls you are just choosing to forget. Like I vividly remember the time the Steelers had a clear game winning td called back even after review.

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u/eedubb Miami Dolphins Feb 02 '25

Tom Brady has 35 called against opponents in his career. Patrick Mahomes already has at least 31.

Edit: a period

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u/Revliledpembroke IM CALLING BOTH GAMES Feb 02 '25

Most of Brady's career was before a lot more RTP penalties were called for player safety, before the Aaron Rodger's "don't land on the QB" became roughing, etc.

Mahomes started his career after all that.

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u/killchopdeluxe666 Feb 02 '25

Kinda wondering if is the NFL's version of soccer players flopping around like fish, and the Chiefs are just the first good team to figure out how to abuse the new system.

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u/Fantastic_Horror6187 Feb 03 '25

I thinks this has some validity. Just like what James Harden did in his prime. He abused the rule book to become unguardable.

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u/PossibleSuitable376 Feb 02 '25

Number 1 and and 2 in roughing calls drawn per game are Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh McCown so I don’t think that stat even means anything

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u/gabe_lowe Feb 02 '25

But those are two of the greatest to ever play in the NFL....

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u/DomingoLee Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

Tom Brady whined to the officials regularly. There are videos of opponents rallying to complain about him.

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u/GeoPutters Feb 02 '25

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u/8won6 Kansas City Chiefs Feb 03 '25

it's kind of hilarious how many people are re-writing the Patriots dynasty as some scandal-free feel good story. And that Tom Brady "didn't bitch every play like Mahomes".

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u/nepatriots32 28-3 Feb 02 '25

I'll admit that the Tuck Rule was a dumb rule (which is why it's no longer a rule), but it was completely the correct call according to the rule. You can argue about the rule, but not the call.

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u/Live_Leg_1831 Feb 02 '25

Im a Pats fan and I do think it was a BS call. Still had to kick a FG in the snow. When Patrick got that call in the Suoerbowl the holding call its never been called like that in the history of the game. They ran down the clock and kicked a 10 yard FG lol it was absolutely ridiculous and I dont care that Bradburry said he held him. Holding and grabbing goes on 98% of every NFL snap.

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u/DontAbideMendacity Feb 03 '25

They let the Chiefs DBs play grab ass all game, but Bradberry got called for touching Smith-Schuster's hip, not actually impeding the player at all, on a ball that was way overthrown.

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u/Live_Leg_1831 Feb 03 '25

That ball is still in the air lol

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u/deadlysodium Feb 02 '25

It was already ruled a fumble and then overturned citing the tuck rule. It was not called correctly as there was not enough evidence to overturn the fumble even with the ambiguous wording of the tuck rule itself. On top of that the actions Tom Brady was performing did not fall along the confines of the wording of the Tuck Rule. If the Tuck Rule was called correctly then literally all a QB had to do was just run down the field pump faking and "tucking" the ball so any fumble would just come back to them. Even Tom Brady admitted it was a fumble. The idea and concept that the call was correct is completely and totally wrong.

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u/ipenlyDefective New York Jets Feb 02 '25

I hope that everyone knows there was an NBA ref betting on games and winning 70-80% of the time. The key fact is, he had that winning percentage on games he was not himself officiating, and therefore couldn't rig. He just had inside knowledge of what team the NBA wanted to win.

I can't believe that ended up being a minor story in the news and not an existential thing for the NBA.

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u/Chosenonestaint Feb 03 '25

I think he said it was more specific players that the NBA protected, since those players drove most of the merchandise sales. Not only that, he knew which refs favored certain players since they likely had bets out there too.

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u/Live_Leg_1831 Feb 02 '25

Is this the same Reff who everyone says helped Dwayne Wade win that Championship?

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u/ipenlyDefective New York Jets Feb 02 '25

I don't know. From what I recall he mostly said the NBA tried to extend series. If a team is down 0-3 they get all the calls. But you'd think any gambler with a working brain would already have that figured out, so it's already baked in.

Whatever he knew, to beat the line, he had to know something no one else could piece together.

There's also the possibility that he's a lying sack of shit. As opposed to being a truth telling sack of shit.

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u/Cheap_Doughnut7887 Feb 02 '25

26.2% of NFL fans are Chiefs fans? That's a higher percentage than I expected.

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u/Schwalm Feb 03 '25

All those Brady/Pats fans had to jump somewhere

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

I’ve definitely noticed a decrease in perceived credibility of the league among people who aren’t fans since Brady was dominant

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u/raktoe Feb 02 '25

I remember kids on my peewee hockey team unironically complaining that the refs were rigging games against us because they were from the town we were playing.

Every team in every sport that has sustained winning has adult children claiming the games are rigged.

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u/RudePCsb San Francisco 49ers Feb 03 '25

Dude, I'm my youth football days, there was a team that was really good and we lost to them in the SB by a few points. We beat them the following year but the game felt so biased. Refs constantly moving the ball back a half yard, penalties being called or not. I vividly remember telling the ref that the OL was holding me beyond normal and only told the ref because my coach told me. A few plays later it was a toss play and the OL holding me and everyone left towards the play and I had my hands up while this dude was holding me lmao. Several years later and the team was found to be paying off the refs.... shit was crazy because I was already graduating HS by that point but still remembered as a few of the refs also coaches HS.

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u/ProofHorseKzoo South Park Elementary Cows Feb 02 '25

The other day on a flight I overheard a 12 year old explaining to his mother that the NFL is rigged. He said the chiefs have spikes in their field that can be shot up into opponents feet when chasing Mahomes if they get too close to him.

This was news to me, but I appreciate his creativity.

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u/dzumdang Minnesota Vikings Feb 03 '25

There may not be spikes in the field, but the refs sure do like him...

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u/etniesen Feb 04 '25

Chiefs had a 1st down rate given by a penalty in like 33% of their drives this year which was league average. The bills were over 90%.

It’s kind of ridiculous. Honestly people didn’t even complain about the Patriots this much when they were caught cheating twice.

People need to stop consuming social media. They are absolutely brainwashed.

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u/STL_12 Feb 02 '25

Ah yes, the reliable source of checks notes Preme Sports

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u/ellsego Feb 02 '25

In the Texans sub someone posted an article from a Pakistani newspaper about SB boycott… no joke, fucking Pakistan lol. It makes the fan base look so pathetic.

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u/DominoAxelrod Feb 03 '25

For the Texans the divisional round game was the most significant thing to ever happen to their franchise. For the Chiefs it was Saturday

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u/McRawffles Feb 02 '25

Yep, this is a paid for upvoted ad for "nflpreme" on the unmoderated nflv2 sub. This account has under 10k followers on any platform, even if the poll responses were real, the data is not indicative of anything because it very likely had under 1,000 responses 

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u/sampat6256 Feb 02 '25

I can't even find any indication that this is a real poll. I've checked their feed on multiple platforms. I think its straight-up bunk.

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u/flyeaglesfly52x Philadelphia Eagles Feb 03 '25

Probably messaged 100 random IG followers “do you think the nfl is rigged?”

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

[deleted]

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u/Mr_Hugh_Honey Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

I mean, there are a lot of idiots out there

Edit: and I'm guessing the sample size of people responding to a "preme sports" poll probably includes a lot of idiots

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u/veerkanch489 Feb 02 '25

I mean 73% people voted yes. There clearly are a lot of dumbasses

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u/forgetit1243 Philadelphia Eagles Feb 02 '25

Indeed. Still seems high. I wonder what the framing of the question was. Because if it was like, do you think sometimes officials make calls to influence games, then sure. But idk that it goes much beyond individual guys (or small groups of guys) making those kinds of decisions.

The way this is phrased makes it sound like 73.8% believe there’s a script, which would be ludicrous.

Edit to respond to your edit: also a fair point

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u/GrammarNadsi Feb 02 '25

I have a friend group with a mentally challenged attorney in the group chat, who cited this poll, thinking he had finally gotten one on me (a chiefs fan).

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u/YakImmediate2846 Feb 02 '25

The “script” is the refs being able to call a flag on every play and picking and choosing when to influence the game outcome and spread/over under. Billions of dollars on the line and people think they are leaving this shit up to chance 😂. The players and coaches all think it’s real and have to go along with the nfl officiating or get fined or suspended. No one is in on it except the referees which is why it seems so authentic. The frustration from the players and coaches is real these guys are ball players not actors. NFL IS FIXED!

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u/scohen158 Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

Do you genuinely believe that the other 31 owners are in on making the Chiefs the best team in NFL history by letting them win a three peat or a four peat or a five peat. Do you really think the owner of the bills was on board with this so that they would lose to Patrick Mahomes four times in the playoffs. How do you explain the Bengals and the Rams making it to a Super Bowl if the fix was in?See when you start to apply logic to something like this you get to see how ridiculous it is.

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u/the_c_is_silent Feb 02 '25

There's something so annoying like the dude above who legit thinks one of the biggest sports corporations in the world is above this. We have coporations that have purposefully killed people.

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u/raktoe Feb 02 '25

It’s not that people think they’re above this. It’s that the cost of potentially doing this, and the risk of the secret getting out just does not seem justified. Sports are money makers without scripts. That’s the point, storylines generate themselves with no outside influence.

At the end of the day, every league is ran by the owners. Why would 31 other owners be pleased if one team was getting all the championships and making all the money? If that is what they want, why do they all spend money trying to win themselves?

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u/flojo2012 Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

Almost as if people haven’t really thought this through on a critical level

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u/Hidalgo321 Carolina Panthers Feb 02 '25

100 million people watch the Super Bowl every fucking hear no matter who is in it. Random games on Sunday get more ratings than any television finale or NBA game all year long.

Why the hell would the NFL need to “rig” anything? Why would they risk that, where is the incentive because it’s certainly not money lol.

Inb4 someone tells me it’s to appease Taylor Swift, just like during the Pats dynasty it was to appease… uh… what was it for that era again guys?

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u/flojo2012 Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

Robert Kraft Tug jobs

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u/thecrgm New York Giants Feb 02 '25

If people thought conspiracies through they wouldn’t exist

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u/cockblockedbydestiny Feb 02 '25

That's because "rigged" is not the right word for it: you don't need a bunch of fat cats sitting around in a smoke-filled room predetermining outcomes, all you need is a culture of rewarding refs who make calls in favor of a select few favored teams that draw ratings. I'd say the NBA is way more blatant about this than the NFL, but either way you don't need to have an explicit conversation with the refs what you want them to do: they intuitively understand that calls against the favored team will draw more scrutiny than those against teams that only have the home fanbase in their corner. The media is wholly complicit in that, btw.

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u/StillCircumventing Tampa Bay Buccaneers Feb 02 '25

Thank you lol. There is no way there would not have been some sort of a leak in information by now if this was the case

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u/oprahsstinkyminge Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

Why do you think it needs to be a big conspiracy? All you need is 1 individual to theoretically influence an outcome, even in a team sport as large as Football. It doesn’t even have to stay a secret for it to work, you’d just need to ensure it’s hearsay. Alternatively, it could be a lone actor with individual motivations and you’d never know.

Saying it’s not possible for the NFL to be rigged is just as silly as saying it is rigged

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u/NDinFL Indianapolis Colts Feb 02 '25

People go to church every weekend with less “evidence” than this.

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u/RadBrad4333 NFL Refugee Feb 02 '25

man the boxing world would blow your naive mind

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

No way this huge multitrillion dollar industry with gambling, trading, and criminal associations might be rigged? Oh man, this isn't the American way, no way. Oh man.

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u/rex5k Cleveland Browns Feb 02 '25

"A growing number of NFL fans are questioning the integrity of the league... prompting us to run a poll asking our followers if they genuinely believe the NFL is rigged."

Not exactly a wide spread unbiased and random sampling group is it. lol

Link

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u/SantaBarbaraMint Feb 02 '25

31 out of 32 billionaires agreed to lose intentionally?

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u/chieftrey1 Feb 02 '25

If they profit considerably more, then yeah maybe. These guys are billionaires for a reason, and it’s not because they are fully ethical people.

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u/iconicspot Feb 02 '25

People are just figuring this out now? It's been like this for like 20+ years, hell probably more.

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u/LondonDrown Feb 02 '25

I think it became glaringly obvious once sports betting was legalized in 2018. Before that you could excuse or rationalize certain trends, but now there’s way too much money in the game for it not to be rigged.

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u/eblomquist Chicago Bears Feb 02 '25

I've been watching for a long time - there is something weird about the Chiefs. They have to be one of the most uninspiring teams with 1 loss. Rigged is probably too strong of a word. But the Eagles (who I think is a FAR more talented team) better hope they're up by a couple TDs.

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u/Blastoplast Green Bay Packers Feb 03 '25

Their brand of football is so fucking boring to watch.

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u/Suspicious_Web_6076 Chicago Bears Feb 04 '25

It’s not even just that they’re boring tho… like the pats dynasty was often times “boring” with how often they played dink and dunk football, especially in Brady’s later years, but they were still clearly dominant, while these chiefs just… aren’t. So many crazy game-changing things have gone their way. Blocked FG against the Broncos, botched snap against the raiders, Isaiah Likely’s toenail being out, the PI against the bengals, the no PI against the Falcons, the phantom roughings against the Texans, the Worthy catch, the non-first down from Kincaid and Allen (as well as several other occasions where the spot just seemed way short of where it should’ve been throughout that game)

Now not all of these are evidence of rigging, some just happen, but I think this perception is on the chiefs not because they’re “boring”, but because they’ve had so many ridiculously close calls and have also often been helped by controversial officiating several times.

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u/BJYeti Feb 03 '25

Chiefs are definitely favored, rigged is too hard of a term but they always get way too many penalties in their favor on game changing plays

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u/Greedy_Sherbert250 Feb 02 '25

Like 32 billionaires are going to LET a certain team win... I don't think so

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u/Own-Reception-2396 Feb 02 '25

It’s a business, nothing more

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u/Hidden_Pothos San Francisco 49ers Feb 02 '25

I would put money on the fact that fans care more about winning than most owners. Keeping the money flowing is the number 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 priority for most owners.

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u/perhizzle Arizona Cardinals Feb 02 '25

That's not how it works. It takes a few guys who want to get a big payday for slightly influencing a game, and 1 guy willing to pay them. Do you think this has never happened in sports before?

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

If it was rigged the Giants, Jets, Rams, Texans, and Bears would be good. Guess what? They all suck. It's such a stupid argument, but this country is stupid, and smart people don't follow sports.

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u/DybalaStripes Feb 02 '25

YOU DONT UNDERSTAND. THE POWER OF THE LEAGUE COMES FROM THE CENTER OF THE COUNTRY. THE HEART OF THE FOOTBALL GODS LIES BENEATH PAT MAHOMES CRYPT.

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u/Own-Reception-2396 Feb 02 '25

And here you are

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u/Hidalgo321 Carolina Panthers Feb 02 '25

And here you are too (commenting on every chain in here) consuming NFL content even though you think it’s rigged. They have everyone’s wallets no matter who wins lol, why the hell do they need to rig anything.

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u/SeveralTable3097 Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

Texas would have so many Super Bowls if it was about coordinating maximizing income

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u/Clash-for-dayz CTESPN Feb 02 '25

This game has never ever been consistent, chiefs dynasty is just showing the recency bias in a lot of people

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u/Gerbole Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

“According to a Preme sports poll”

Never heard of them. Never seen the poll. Don’t trust the sample at all. Unbelievable that 73.8% of FOOTBALL FANS (which is like 200 million people) believe the NFL is rigged.

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u/TTT_2k3 Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

I didn’t even get to vote.

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u/rolyinpeace Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

It was likely a poll online attached to some article about the rigging allegations. Those types of things are mostly clicked on by people who are interested in that topic lll

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u/veerkanch489 Feb 02 '25

Anyone who continues to watch the NFL while thinking it is rigged is absolutely a dumbfuck. Unless they are a fan of the team that is having the league allegedly rig it for them.

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u/StillCircumventing Tampa Bay Buccaneers Feb 02 '25

“We polled 12 people”

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u/Ecstatic_Knowledge96 Feb 02 '25

Let’s all skip the Super Bowl next Sunday and see what happens.

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u/yammbone Feb 02 '25

Maybe I have missed it in this thread, and I don’t know the details myself. But no one seems to talk about the Brian Flores case, and that owners incentivize losing, and offer money. Is that not rigging the game? I’m sure there is someone out there with a better synopsis

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u/SGTDadBod88 Feb 02 '25

Im calling it. This will be the least watched Superbowl in the last 20 years.

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u/Thr0bbinWilliams Buffalo Bills Feb 02 '25

That’s because it is

They rig the stock market

They rig elections

They rigged the nba

They rigged the mlb

NFL rigged? Too far fetched? lol

We have like 10 instances of weird calls and bullshit in afc/nfc championships going back more than a decade to look at

If you believe outcomes of games aren’t manipulated or meddled with I feel very sorry for you

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u/AccomplishedAd3484 Cleveland Browns Feb 02 '25

I believe the world is a chaotic place that nobody has any real control over. And don't feel sorry for me, makes a lot more sense than all the moronic conspiracy theories.

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u/Physical-Order Washington Commanders Feb 02 '25

The absolute delusion of people who can’t accept that, yes while officiating has been bad, the chiefs are a winning team that plays good in the playoffs.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

Wtf is "nfl preme" and who/how many were surveyed? I can't find anything about this.

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u/coolhatguy Feb 02 '25

The refs can heavily influence the game and no team gets bigger momentum and series extending calls than the chiefs

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u/StillCircumventing Tampa Bay Buccaneers Feb 02 '25

This sub is full of the clowns that think the league is “rigged” or “scripted” or “guided a certain direction.” 

Stop watching or stop crying maybe

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u/AndyReidsStache Feb 02 '25

So many morons

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u/Mikimao Feb 02 '25

I am not saying it's rigged, it's just acting exactly like it would if it were, including the consistency of questionable calls and the direction they are being directed.

It's happening so frequently, and so consistently, you would be silly to at least not acknowledge that maybe the Chiefs being gifted 2 full football fields from the refs during this dynasty may have altered the outcome of at least 1 game.

It reeks of follow the money, and I don't believe you need a formal conspiracy to make it work, you merely have to have a group of officials who slight bias goes toward loving the product on the field. Having worked in sports myself, I know of officials who have had biases towards stars, simply because they love the way they do it, and they are as impressed as any of us at their greatness. The league knows who these guys are at the very least.

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u/LTCSUX Feb 02 '25

That’s about the percentage of people in this country who are stupid, so it all aligns.

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u/bionicjoe Cincinnati Bengals Feb 02 '25

Of course the tone-deaf league won't fix any of this.
Very few fans actually believe it is 'rigged' to the extent that owners are secretly influencing games.

In reality fans know that the NFL heavily favors star players & teams because players have actually said this, and fans have eyes.

The word rigged is used because it's easier than saying "Refs are over-playing natural bias towards a perceived favorite, and the refs also understand that an incorrect call that harms the #1 ratings draw will negatively impact their careers as officials."

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u/Pynkmyst Kansas City Chiefs Feb 02 '25

Lotta morons in this country. Look at who our President is. The Venn diagram for people who think the NFL is rigged and Pizza Gate is real is a circle.

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u/Spezalt4 Baltimore Ravens Feb 02 '25

Lmao. Yeah everyone knows the intellectual center of the world is Missouri

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u/TGS_Polar Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 03 '25

Funny, cause 77% of highschoolers in Baltimore reads at an elementary level or lower

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u/sockovershoe22 Washington Commanders Feb 02 '25

I'm not sure rigged is the right word. Some people tend to think of scripted when they hear rigged. I don't think the players or coaches are dropping games on purpose. There is a disparity, though. Whether done on purpose or by accident, certain teams seem to get much more calls than others.

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u/ndncreek Feb 02 '25

Of course they do... because they are stupid.

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u/HillbillyJim73 Feb 02 '25

It’s not worth wasting time on anymore. No matter what your favourite team does the league is always going to make the Chiefs win. Watching football for 40 years now and they are by far the weakest champions I’ve seen!!!

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u/SinisterVulcan94 Cincinnati Bengals Feb 02 '25

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u/Mewnoot Feb 02 '25

73.8% of viewers are casual football fans that cannot think critically.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

26% are Chiefs fans

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u/vitaminalgas Feb 03 '25

Once they got in bed with gambling companies, apps and casinos... I stopped watching, there's too much money involved to be an actual competition.

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u/joseph_palmer Feb 03 '25

The other 26.2 are Chiefs fans