Lately there has been quite a bit of uproar over officiating in the NFL, especially a series of highly questionable calls which have gone in favor of the KC Chiefs.  To date the NFL has been silent on the matter (no surprise there!).  Well, today Troy Aikman finally came out and called out the elephant in the room...the Las Vegas betting angle.

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2025/01...ntroversy/

I have long maintained that betting on NFL games has a big influence on game outcomes, especially when it comes to playoff games.  It's not just this year either, this has been going on for a long time, IMO.  When there's a half a BILLION dollars riding on a game, you've got to believe that strings are being pulled anywhere possible to affect the outcome of these games.  But...there's also something which doesn't make sense in all of this.  The really big money in Vegas isn't on the favorite.  No, the truly "BIG" money is on the underdog; that's where the really big payoff's are.  So, what this tells me is, there is a much more 'organized' effort behind rigging games, and that effort runs deep, deep, within the NFL and the Las Vegas betting houses.  Could it be that this all boils down to maximizing betting profits by ensuring the underdog doesn't win?  Thus, the betting houses and the NFL get to keep more of their profits????

What do you think?

I've always wondered how predetermined some games are. I'd prefer to think that officials are on the level but with so many rules and so many ambiguous ones, it's not difficult for a ref to call a penalty to make things go a certain way. What really irks me is when, in a single game, one team can get penalized while the other team that commits the same infraction and is never called. That's either luck of the draw or blatant cheating.

The NFL is a huge money machine. When they openly added gambling on games with sponsors, they became a new level of sleazy.

(01-31-2025, 06:20 PM)LogicalGraffiti Wrote: I've always wondered how predetermined some games are.  I'd prefer to think that officials are on the level but with so many rules and so many ambiguous ones, it's not difficult for a ref to call a penalty to make things go a certain way.  What really irks me is when, in a single game, one team can get penalized while the other team that commits the same infraction and is never called.  That's either luck of the draw or blatant cheating.

The NFL is a huge money machine.  When they openly added gambling on games with sponsors, they became a new level of sleazy.

I played NCAA college football, and I can tell you, without any reservations, that there is a holding penalty on every single play.  There is also a defensive personal foul penalty...on every single play.  Every single one.  Every snap...there's a penalty.  Every single play.  Every one.

What concerns me now is, refs spotting the ball incorrectly, and refs calling one side for penalties and not the other.  There's clear bias.

Offensive penalties, especially "holding" are there on every play...every single one!  Even in college ball.  Defensive roughness plays are there, ever single time also.  Where the refs, and the TV looks, is where the ball goes.

What's different now is...the refs are making bad calls where the ball is. That's different.  And...why they're doing it is because of...MONEY...Money in Vegas!

Back in the 80's and 90's there was no money in NFL football in Vegas.  Now, in the 2020's, there's over a BILLION dollars on every game!  There's no way you can expect these games aren't rigged with THAT much money on every game...especially playoff and Super Bowl games!!  Just NO WAY!