Conspiracy Theory: All Pro Sports Are Rigged Now

In the age of legalized sports betting, I'm questioning the integrity of our favorite sports. Sure, they've always been bought and paid for, but has there ever been a time where individuals could make a lot of money by betting on outcomes? That can't be healthy for sports, which makes me questions their legitimacy. Series Idea Recently, I've been joking around about a conspiracy theory I have about pro sports: they're rigged. Obviously, I'm not that serious about this take. It's somewhat absurd on its face. After all, I like to believe that athletes compete as hard as they can most of the time. That said, I joked about it with enough people that I was finding that others actually believe it. So, I started watching my favorite teams with a more conspiratorial eye—much like Alex Jones and his contemporary, Candace Owens. Then, I got thinking. With how rough some of my articles have been as of late, I figured I could shit post a little bit. In fact, depending on how much fun I have writing this piece, I might make this a whole series. Y'all need something to take your mind off the world, right? So, let me get into the first theory! Challenging Calls I've been watching a lot of the Penguins lately, and I don't personally recommend anyone put themselves through that. While they had a hot first 20 games or so, they've since developed into frauds. In fact, at the time of writing, they're on an 8-game losing streak, and they're scoreless in their last two games. Getting shutout in back-to-back games is enough to make you go a little insane, but it can't hurt much worse than throwing away a 5-1 lead (both of which the penguins have done in their last 8 games). Of course, along that journey, I've seen a lot of weird calls. For example, in a recent game against Ottawa, the refs overturned a goal by the Penguins on the basis of goaltender interference. You can see the whole play here at around the 7:54 mark. The Penguins end up challenging the call and are assessed a Delay of Game penalty for an Unsuccessful Challenge (see the explanation from the NHL). When I saw this challenge live, I was completely amazed that the call wasn't overturned. Now, to be fair, I've never read the rulebook. I don't know what constitutes goaltender interference. However, you might hear the following key phrases on the broadcast: Was the skater in the paint? Was there incidental contact? Was the skater pushed into the goalie? Did the goalie have time to reset? Regardless of my lack of knowledge, here's what I see in the clip: The puck is in frame before there is any contact with the goalie The puck is in the net roughly at the time of the contact (i.e., any interference at this point has no effect on the outcome) The contact is from the opposing team's stick The goalie initiates contact with their blocker on the skater The goalie then flops from the contact The skater never enters the paint To me, this is hardly goaltender interference, and even Senators fans were baffled. Just check out this Reddit thread in r/hockey. Of course, this was particularly baffling to me, because an almost identical play happened against the Penguins at the beginning of the game (which you can see at about 27 seconds here). However, instead of it resulting in a goal, the goalie received a penalty for tripping. Make it make sense. Regardless, even if this is the correct call by the rulebook, then you need to change the rules. Sports are an entertainment product, and bad calls like this devalue the product. Ultimately, it's moments like these that make me wonder if the refs are trying to cash in a bet. In some cases, I almost hope they are betting because I would hate for them to be this brazenly incompetent. While we're here, I just want to highlight the several times the Penguins have had challenges not go their way this season. After all, this article really was just an excuse for me to complain about reffing against the Penguins this season. Hell, they were ranked 31st in powerplay opportunities at one point this season, so give me this one. The Penguins are losing games all by themselves, but the lack of calls certainly kills any hope you might have. Anyway, on 12/18, the Penguins challenged the goaltender interference call on the ice and got it wrong. That one we covered already. Just four days before on 12/14, the Penguins let the Mammoth comeback and tie the game. The tying goal is challenged by the Penguins for goaltender interference, which you can see here. I think a goaltender interference challenge is a bit soft in this case, but given the precedent, it could easily be overturned. Well, it wasn't. Meanwhile, on 12/1, Philadelphia challenges a Pittsburgh goal for Goaltender Interference, and the goal comes back (which you can watch here). The NHL claim that Geno "impaired Dan Vladar's ability to play his position in the crease prior to the goal." I think if you watch this one and the previous one, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The contact from Geno here is so minimal that I'm dumbfounded. Likewise, Vladar actually has enough time to setup for the shot, which can't be said for Silovs. In both cases, the skater is in the paint, so you can't even make that distinction.Much later in the month, on 12/23, yet another Pittsburgh goal gets called back on a challenge for Goaltender Interference (which you can watch here). This ruling is fine. The goalie has the puck covered, and the skater slides their stick under the glove to dislodge it. However, the rule they cite is not what happened in the video. They claim that the goaltender was pushed into the net after making the save. The puck clearly squirts out before going into the net. Of course, I think it's interference either way, but it's close. The skater is clearly making a play on a loose puck and loses the race. I think you could make the argument that the goalie never had control of the puck, but then we get into the nightmare that is "control of the ball" in football. Why Do Bad Calls Happens? When you look at the antagonistic nature of a challenge, it's pretty obvious why challenges sometimes fail (or often fail as of recent for the Penguins): the refs are always right, and it hurts their feelings when you tell them they're wrong. In hockey, there's actually another reason: game management. For some reason, hockey refs feel the need to manage games, which means they purposely ignore calls or make calls as needed. For example, if teams are getting rough, they might start calling penalties to cool things off. Likewise, if a team is losing, they might be afforded more power plays. In other words, penalties aren't called because they happen. They're called only when they suit the moment. You can see refs literally discussing this here. With that said, it's a lot more fun to imagine more sinister reasons for bad calls. Fortunately, you don't have to look very far these days: sports betting is an epidemic. I think one of the worst things to happen to sports is the legalization of sports betting. Now, there is a monetary incentive to control the outcome of games. Certainly, players try to influence the outcomes of games—that's literally their job—but refs seem to be playing a bigger part lately. In fact, I saw this wonderful video about a horrendous no call in an NFL playoff game in 2018. The ref stares right at an obvious pass interference and does nothing. Fans watching it are completely dumbfounded. I can even imagine the fans of the winning team feel like its undeserved—though, any real competitor would tell you to stop whining and win the game. That said, calls (or rather no calls) like that sort of cheapen the experience for everyone. Can Players Rig Games Too? It's not just the outcomes of games that could be rigged. It's prop betting too. For hockey, that means you can bet on a particular player to score a goal either over the course of an entire game or during a specific period. Hell, you can probably bet on points, assists, blocks, saves, and more. As a result, there are more subtle ways to insider trade. Happen to personally know a player that averages more than four shots a night? Bet on the under and tell him not to shoot. Don't believe me? It's already happening. In the NBA, Jontay Porter is currently going through the legal system for a betting scheme. Apparently, he admitted that he planned to bench himself early, so a few of his friends could bet the under on his production. Since the legalization of sports betting in 2018, there have been over 20 different sports gambling scandals across all major sports. For instance, in the MLB, a couple of Cleveland relief pitchers were taking money to throw bad pitches. Meanwhile, several NFL players were making bets on games including games involving their own team. And, these are all the players that have been caught. Imagine if refs, coaches, and management all get in on the gambling ring. You might just end up with entire teams fixing games like old boxing matches—though I suppose it would be hard to get away with (or would it? It seems open conspiracies see justice vary rarely these days). Sports Betting Is Bad for Sports I don't think I'm saying anything controversial when I say sports betting is bad for sports (and society broadly). I know it's not controversial because the Pew Research Center is already finding that a growing percentage of Americans think its bad. In just a span of three years, 11% more Americans have become more pessimistic about sports gambling's effects on society. Meanwhile, 7% more Americans have a worse view on its role in sports. Very few in either case think it's good. Many folks are still unsure. The biggest demographic jumps in that study are among men (+10%), white people (+10%), and young people (+18%). However, negative sentiment towards sports gambling has grown across basically every demographic. Even without the conspiratorial lens, sports betting definitely has a negative effect on players. Players already receive a lot of hate when they have a bad game, but can you imagine what it's like now when you're the reason some guy didn't hit a parlay on his child's college fund? There's also just no winning as a player. You could be on a bad team and end up upsetting folks when you cause your team to win. Likewise, heaven forbid you ever end up in a slump or perform better than expected. There are bettors counting on you. Ultimately, I just don't care for the direction sports are headed in as the industry of sports betting grows. It's bad enough having to see those silly mid-game parlays listed on the screen. It's going to get a lot worse as gambling begins to corrupt players, coaches, refs, and management. Perhaps it already has. Anyway, thanks again for reading! I'm obviously way out of my depth with an article like this, but so few of you read these that it doesn't matter. Besides, this will be a fun read for me a few years down the line. As for you, here are some (loosely) related articles you might browse: Recapping My First In-Person Academic Conference (because it mentions a hockey game I attended) 4 Values We Have to Stop Pushing in Engineering Education (because I talk about scoring goals) Y’all Need to Stop Using Generative AI for Summaries (because I use the Penguins as an example) Likewise, here's a list of ways you can help grow the site. Otherwise, I'll see you later.