ARE PROFESSIONAL SPORTS RIGGED?

Watching professional sports has been a cornerstone of American culture for decades upon decades, ranging back to 1939 when the first sports event was broadcasted. With so many people always watching these broadcasted games and matches, there’s always going to be those suspicious of the administration who runs these games, specifically suspicious of the fact that the games are scripted, and if not scripted, fixed in order for one team to inevitably come out on top.

If you don’t live under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard that Super Bowl 57 just happened, and the Kansas City Chiefs came out on top 38-35 in a closely fought, offensive battle against the Philadelphia Eagles. All over social media, people were (and still are) enraged about the numerous missed penalty calls and penalty calls that shouldn’t have been called at all.

However, this isn’t a particularly “new” controversy when it comes to professional sports, especially high-stakes games. Combat sports are another sport that is heavily believed to be rigged under the brightest lights, such as a championship.

Obviously, WWE is fixed considering it is a literal script, but many people suspect that professional boxing is fixed as well. Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley I is one boxing match that is looked at as fixed. Pacquiao had been beating Bradley nearly every round, but in a split decision, they gave the win to Bradley in order to get two more rematches out of the two, both of which Pacquiao won by unanimous decision.

Super Bowl 40 is one of the most controversial Super Bowls to happen.

It was against the local Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks, who had an egregious number of petty penalties called against them. The head referee years later claimed it was not rigged, but that they “misunderstood the rules,” which 100% “makes sense” considering they are refereeing at the highest level of this sport. The Steelers ended up winning against the Seahawks, giving the Steelers the fifth of the six Super Bowls.

I believe that sports are rigged in favor of a certain team. There’s so much money to be made at the top of those organizations that it’s almost obvious it will happen. With the NFL recently calling themselves an “entertainment business” as opposed to a sport, it’s becoming very blatant at this point.