Is the NFL manipulated or fixed?

[Connie Jo]

Many various polls of NFL fans are showing as much as 80% majority of NFL fans believe the games are fixed, or manipulated to help favored teams win...such as refs making calls shaving points. What is your opinion, do you think the NFL is manipulated or fixed for higher TV ratings & profits, and/or Vegas odds profiting?

[matthewschiefs]

Peyton manning is a bigger story than Tom Brady this year, by far. That said, you are arguing with someone who agrees with your position,...somewhat. I do not believe it is scripted. All I am saying is if the opportunity arises to help out a bigger potential story they will. They can't control everything, but they can gently nudge a game result in a certain direction.

THIS

The NFL doesn't do anything that outright wins them the games. You can still beat them. But they do give little nudges to certain teams. What it does is makes it easier for those teams to overcome their mistakes. You just have to play through it and you can beat them. But they shouldn't get that nudge

[ctchiefsfan]

Yeah but having tom brady in would of been the same, having the chargers get in the playoffs and get to the super bowl would be a good story, chiefs worst to first would be a good story, Andrew Luck winning his first SB would be good (all those would get good ratings because the NFC team could sell and underdog stories sell in 'murica). To me, complaining about the refs or the nfl telling the refs to do something is just an excuse, its what raiders fans use (the ones i see on other forums), complaining about how the NFL doesn't want the raiders to win anything because they hated al davis.

Flacco was not good for business but still won

Excellent points! There were a LOT of good potential "story lines" that would have been good for the NFL's bottom line. Manning and the donkeys was only one of them.

So as I said, I am not buying in to the idea that the NFL is rigged. Some subtle pressure on the zebras I find conceivable.

All that said, I am seeing more "conspiracy theories" than I ever have before and the bottom line is that that is bad for business and bad for the NFL.

The Zebras this year were a DISASTER. Bad calls and no calls happened to the detriment and benefit of every team. And they happened at an astonishing rate. And they all got posted on the internet for all to see. Some of the "no calls" were so egregious that only blind zebras with an IQ of 6, zebras that simply don't know the rules or a conspiracy could explain them. And this has provided a fertile breeding ground for conspiracy theories.

The NFL urgently needs to do some serious house-cleaning with the bad call/no call problem. The credibility of the NFL as a legitimate sport is at stake. 2 more years like this one and the NFL will start losing fans in droves. Goodell URGENTLY needs to perform a cranio-rectal extraction and get the zebra problem fixed or else he will be the NFL Commissioner that presides over the marginalization of the NFL.

[Eydugstr]

Peyton manning is a bigger story than Tom Brady this year, by far. That said, you are arguing with someone who agrees with your position,...somewhat. I do not believe it is scripted. All I am saying is if the opportunity arises to help out a bigger potential story they will. They can't control everything, but they can gently nudge a game result in a certain direction.

Exactly. Don't believe they can entirely "fix" a game, but they can influenced it's outcome to a large degree.

The solution I think will be a combination of fines & media. Sooner or later the league has to take notice, and start handing out fines. If Goodell is trying to establish himself as a discplinarian, here's a good opportunity for him.