Sports Conspiracies: Are Professional Sports Fixed?

I've always considered myself a sports fan. The older I grew, however, the fewer hours I could spend following my favorite teams or watching games on TV. Now, when I do watch, I find myself not really believing what I see. Too many athletes are on drugs or are criminals and the leagues don't care. And some games just seem "too good to be true." So the question that's grown in my mind has been, are they? Are the games rigged?

The answer may just be yes.

In digging around the internet, I found this website: www.thefixisin.net

The same guy also wrote this article which sums up his stance nicely: Eight Sports Conspiracies

I think this guy hit the nail on the head in regards to the leagues, but he misses the point. Many sports fans have gone over the edge and devote way too much time, energy, and money to this passion. They act like they are part of the team or that the team's moves are truly life & death decisions.

Are sports too much of a distraction these days for people? Have we become like the Romans and are amused by the gladiators while the Senate steals away our rights & money? I can understand the argument that sports can be a nice way to pass the time (and I'd never argue against spending a sunny afternoon in the bleachers watching a ball game with a hot dog in one hand and a beer in the other), but do they hold too much sway over many people's daily lives? To the point of missing or ignoring things that are much more important?

Sports exist to sell us things. How many people tune in to the Super Bowl just to "watch the ads?" Isn't that a bit sick? But that's what advertisers want: to hit a hard-to-sell-to demographic with a sales pitch at a time of heightened emotional awareness.

Then, on top of it, maybe even the games we're watching have been tampered with, setting up the most "interesting" match-ups possible in order to lure in as many suckers wanting to see what happens.

Is it all just a massive conspiracy that we've been led to believe - or perhaps hoped to believe - isn't about sales and money, but really about sport and the best of the best rising to the top? What do you think, ATS?

[edit on 11-5-2010 by MrParanoid]

[edit on 11-5-2010 by MrParanoid]

Professional Sports are the modern day distraction for the masses - it gives them something to focus their time and energy on instead of figuring out what's really going on. As far as spending money - I never figured out why someone will spend hundreds of dollars on a shirt that's worth less than $10 just because it has a sports team's logo on it.

Nearly every person around the world can tell you who their favorite sports personalities are in every league, but very few can tell you who their congressperson or senator are, or how the financial markets work, or what their politicians are actually up to.

This is by design - they make sports a distraction (just like the ancient Romans did with Gladiatorial games) so that people won't put their energies into figuring out what their politicians and bankers are actually up to.

Hmm. well could you please give us an example as what sports do you think are being fixed? and how they are being fixed?

Some sports like mixed martial arts are being fixed to a degree and that means promoters are choosing which fighter fights who and also dictating fighters careers down the track. Some fighters e.g Herschel Walker are given fighters with only a good standup instead of an overall ground game or wrestling background that can play to their matchup.
Some big fights are not lined up until a prodigy fighter has some wins under his belt.

But what happens inside the cage can not be seen as fixed and for mere entertainment purposes only. Look at the recent poor performance by Anderson Silva, or the punch by Paul Daley in the UFC who eventually got fired from the organisation. Nothing like that is a set-up. Performance is only instigated by the cash bonus of knock-out of the night, submission of night etc. But you can never be able to predict fights because you believe they are fixed.

"Fixed" is a relative term, I guess. Baseball games may not be fixed, but the league clearly knew steroids were being taken by many players (which resulted in better play & more home runs = more attendence & money), yet the MLB didn't act until it was a needed PR move.

Basketball seems to be outright fixed for TV ratings with their prime stars always featured in the playoffs. The NBA's former ref who was busted for gambling stated this as a fact.

The NFL, I always suspected, fixed certain games to enlongate storylines (like the Saints after Katrina). That league needs TV to survive. They don't make enough money through ticket sales which is why they seem to be the biggest TV hog out there. To get people to watch, you need to develop interest. Fixing games would do that.

As for MMA and the like, I think many of those matches could be rigged. It may not be the WWE (yet), but boxing has seen its fair share of dives in its history, to think the MMA hasn't is foolish.

It may not be that every game/fight is, but when a certain result would make more money than another, I would guess the leagues can make it happen.

When it comes to the NBA, I think the integrity of the game is somewhat out the window.

Not necessarily a completely rigged game, per se, but certain aspects that lead up to a semi-predetermined outcome.

For instance these horrific episodes of "star power" changing the game. Sportscasters go out of there way to say that the officials are unbiased in their foul calls/no calls...but seconds later they admit that "LeBron of course gets the foul call" or (insert star players name here) gets the foul call--and that's how it should be if you are that good. This leads up to players being able to flop and draw calls that are never fouls. These star players rely on friendly refereeing to keep the stats up w/free throws and second chance possessions. This is a general example that can be seen in virtually every game. It tends to appear to go both ways, so this could be looked at as negligible.

There was a series between the Hawks and the Lakers, I believe, where Dick Bavetta was clearly calling everything on the Lakers side. Even plays where 'nobody' was touched were fouls against the Hawks-putting the Lakers on the line. This is a specific example that doesn't come up as often, but to me, is indicative of orders coming from 'up top' possibly.

Their job is to push star power and thus--industry. Jerseys, sports cards, and various collectibles licensed by the NBA are such lucrative markets...

I remember the commissioner considering banning gambling amongst NBA officials until it turned out some 85% gamble regularly...

And steroids...man...don't get me started.

I've played sports against men who didn't really have what it took and used steroids to gain unfair advantages. I've seen how they act when they are on them, how they act when they are off them--and how they perform under the same circumstances. I've seen all the physical and mental attributes associated with them

I can say for sure I've noticed some of the exact same similar behaviors amongst players in baseball, (of course) fighting, football, and even GOLF!

Not all PED's are equal, however, and I think the use of androgenic anabolic steroids is on a hearty decline in many sports (if at all in baseball) some PED's are still being used. Think meth and HGH and HCG...



[edit on 5/12/10 by Tharsis]

I don't think any league could get performance enhancing drugs out of the game if they wanted to (and that's a really big "IF"). They don't/won't test for everything (because players won't allow blood tests), and chemists keep inventing stuff specifically to evade tests. That's how the "Clear" came into being and was supposedly used by everyone from Barry Bonds to Marion Jones and onwards.

I've heard from someone with ties to an NFL player that virtually every player is on PEDs of some form, and that the team doctors tell them how and when to use the drugs to play better and stay clean. It makes sense if you think about what they do and endure on the field, but then to call the game "clean" as the NFL does is a joke.

The OP should be congratulated for posing such questions.
A little bit of fixing is like a little bit of cancer?
I have been a Football(Soccer) fan for a long time, and I will tell ya, I have seen some strange results over the decades.
But only a few amongst thousands.
Money attracts corruption.
The Italian Football Serie A has been proven to be a hotbed of match fixing recently.
But I know my team would never fix a game.
MMM yes I hear you say.
Sport is a distraction you are all correct, but it can be a beautiful and pure one.
If professional team sport becomes fixed like horse racing, then its time to move on and get another distraction.
BUt I know when I support Australia and England in the next world cup I KNOW there will be no fixing I know that.
If it comes to that even international Football is fixed , Football is dead, and only betting freaks will bother watching, just like horse racing.
Lets hope its not true.

I reckon the world cup has the biggest conspiracy of all.

For example, us vs Italy at the 2006 world cup

The game was tied at 0-0 in the last minute, where an Italian player fell over in the penalty box, the referee awarding a penalty, which the Italians scored to win. The replay clearly shows that a penalty was an incorrect decision, and the referee admitted he was wrong after the game

Italy went on to win against France in the final. Soccer's full of cheats and divers no wonder its called a game for pussys over here

Double post

[edit on 12/5/2010 by OzWeatherman]

It turned out that an f1 race was fixed sorta....

en.m.wikipedia.org...

Sports for the most part is there for entertainment purposes to fans such as myself. I have been a sports fanatic for most of my life; it is a great form of escapism and entertainment.

Match fixing is prevalent though and more than once has it been proved that the result of a sport has been fixed, such as in cricket, soccer and tennis and many other forms of sport.

I think it's more about the players making an easy buck by accepting bribes to throw matches than anything else. In a sport such as F1 though, the outcome of races have been fixed according to which driver comes first or second in a team which also leads to more money, sponsorship, etc.
But, the associations in all sport also know that they need to keep people interested by making the respective sport entertaining to continue to make revenue. So, there are many ways to 'fix' sport. It really is a relative term. Sometimes it's punishable by law, other times it can be easily justified.

Whether or not sports in general is fixed for a bigger purpose, I can only guess. Sport all over generates a lot of money for individuals, teams, sponsors and countries by being entertaining and having millions watch and support it - it's a fact of life.

I wouldnt say they are all fixed, that would be too harsh. Back when I was a referree I wouldnt fix more than 50% of the games in order to maintain the spirit of sports and a reasonable amount of fairplay. So judging all refs as game-fixers is a little unfair. Its only when there are millions of dollars involved that you need some sort of control over who wins so that stuff doesnt get out of hand. But minor league stuff? Nah, it aint fixed.

Sports Conspiracies: Are Professional Sports Fixed?

I've wondered this in the past, myself.

It could just be because I genuinely and sincerely despise all sports and am constantly looking for a reason to berate them, but it still seems a legitimate question.




TheAssoc.

Talking Professional Football (Soccer), it is phenominally corrupt.
The money which is changing hands for match fixing between players, referees, officials is out of control.
It is worldwide and now what you are watching on TV is not the spirit of Football, but the Spirit of Corruption.
A lot of people dont want to know about it - they back their teams even if team players have been charged with corruption.
If you have been watching football for the last 20 years, you've been watching the machine of corruption turning ...
Ongoing investigations are currently looking at well over 200 matches ...

I knew I should have written down a recent interview about the rise of Football corruption and the amounts of money involved - astounding! ... this was the only one I could find ... which was November 2009

www.bbc.co.uk...

You're right about professional soccer - it has been and continues to be fixed by gamblers. According to this author, even Olympic and World Cup games have been fixed: How To Fix A Soccer Game

It's highly probable that any game - FIFA, NFL, NBA, etc - could be fixed. Think of all the drug users a gambler or league could blackmail. Or gambling athletes that need to "make good." Or even just plain uncaring, greedy players/refs that are out there on the field. The right type of payday could make any game bend the "right" way.

And if that happened (which I'm sure it has on multiple occassions), what fan would know? What's the difference between a player fixing a game and that same player just having a "bad game?"

I can't see how every game would be fixed, but I would think some of them are fixed. My guess would be that it depends on how the odds are shaping up.