Posted on 10/17/2025 1:14:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
During the past eight or nine years, many football fans have wondered: Is the NFL favoring the Kansas City Chiefs? Why do Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs always seem to get bailed out with a penatly flag against the other team?
No, you are not being paranoid or a delusional. Actually, science and research suggest you might be on to something.
Research done by a team at UTEP presents evidence that the Chiefs have benefited from slanted officiating from 2015 to 2023, a time that coincided with their rise as one of the NFL’s most marketable franchises.
Published in the journal Financial Review, the study provides “one of the clearest empirical looks at how financial pressures can influence real-time rule enforcement,” the UTEP research team said.
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“Our findings suggest that when the league’s financial health is at stake, rule enforcement may subtly shift to protect market appeal,” said Spencer Barnes Ph.D., assistant professor of finance in UTEP’s Woody L. Hunt College of Business and the lead author of the study. “The fact that postseason penalties consistently favored one franchise, while similar dynasties showed no such pattern, points to the powerful role of financial incentives in shaping supposedly neutral decisions.”
The study shows that during the playoffs, which the research team identified as the NFL’s most commercially valuable period, penalties against opposing defenses of the Chiefs’ offense were significantly more likely to result in first downs, cover more yardage and fall into subjective categories such as roughing the passer or pass interference.
Importantly, these effects were absent from the Tom Brady–era New England Patriots and other recent Super Bowl contenders, suggesting the phenomenon is unique to Kansas City’s emergence as a television ratings powerhouse, the study found.
This, Spencer said, may be the result of financial pressures on the league stemming from the sharp decline in TV viewership and ratings during 2015–2017 seasons, just before Mahomes became the Chiefs’ starting quarterback. Those seasons were marked by controversy over racial issues, most notably San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeing during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racism.
The implications extend beyond football, the research team says. The study draws parallels to financial markets, corporate governance and regulatory agencies, where dominant players may enjoy advantages not because of explicit corruption, but because institutions under pressure adapt to preserve stability and revenue.
“This research not only deepens our understanding of sports governance, but also illustrates a larger societal concern: When financial pressure weighs heavily, impartiality can erode,” said John Hadjimarcou, Ph.D., dean of UTEP’s Woody L. Hunt College of Business. “Spencer’s work demonstrates the power of academic inquiry to reveal hidden dynamics that affect fairness, competition and trust in institutions.”
Why did your school give this man a degree? Can they revoke it?
The Chiefs/Lions game was a joke. Get in bed w/ gambling and here is your result.
If torture data long enough you can make it say anything.
Has been debunked multiple times times on X.
Fake News.
B S
You cannot base the study on frequency of penalties alone.
Many years ago, late-Shula era, the Dolphins were consistently the least penalized team. The Raiders were consistently the most or near the most. The Raiders won championships and the Dolphins were simply above average (due to Marino and Shula). The Raiders earned the penalties, the Dolphins had the discipline NOT to earn them. It wasn’t enough to change the outcome that much.
I say this as a Rams fan who is convinced that the refs blew it in the 2001 season Super Bowl as they purposely let a LOT of defensive holds go (Rams-Patriots) to maintain game flow, and Belichik was happy to cash in by holding Holt and Bruce.
U Texas at El Paso. The poly sci dept, things must be slow there.
The league has no financial pressure for the Chiefs to succeed. The league really doesn’t care who wins. It just doesn’t matter. If they had teams to favor it would be the BIG teams with large national audiences. Like the Cowboys. A smallish market midwestern team has no financial plus side. Other than they play really fun football. Good coaches teach their teams how to not get penalties, and also how to draw penalties. There are tricks in every trade.
Even over the eagles and their constant false starts on the “tush push?”
The game between the Chiefs and Lions had zero penalties called against the Chiefs. That compares to analyst’s who say virtually every football play has some type of penalty committed.
Jones forced Goodell to punish the Patriots/Tom Brady in the "Deflategate" incident.
Go back to the "Spygate" incident. The NFL was investigating the Patriots violating NFL roles, by secretly videotaping the opposing teams. Some Patriots employees revealed it had happened before their first Super Bowl victory against the Rams. It was only exposed when the Jets complained about it - and the only reason the Jets knew is their head coach had been coaching the Patriots for five years before that, so he knew about the cheating.
The investigation turned up videotape evidence of the vilations.
Roger Goodell immediately ended the investigation, ordered all the evidence destroyed, and gave the Patriots the lightest punishment he reasonably could.
The other owners knew what happened. So, when Deflategate happened the NFL was going to say nothing happened. But after Spygate, Jones got a big enough group of owners who were already mad about the first incident together, that they had enough votes to remove Goodell. So, Goodell was forced to give enough punishment, to peel away some of the votes to remove him.
Suffice it to say, Goodell and Jones hate each other.
Two years later, a woman accused the Cowboy's star running back Ezekiel Elliot, and the NFL put their female investigator, Kia Wright Roberts on it. She said did not recommend he be suspended, and said their were huge credibility problems. Goodell overruled that and gave Elliot a six game suspension.
Compare that with Goodell's handling of domestic violence against Ray Rice, of the "Prestige" Baltimore Ravens. He gave Rice a two game suspension. Then it came out the NFL had a tape of Rice brutally punching his wife/fiancé in the face in an elevator. Goodell claimed he never saw the tape. He was either lying, or he deliberately chose not to see when told what it showed. Because the NFL had the tape. Why the difference between the Cowboys and the Ravens?
Goodell became commissioner because of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and he has a subservient relationship to him. Goodell likes/is supported to by old school prestige teams like Steelers , the Chiefs (He was also supported by the Hunts.), and the Ravens. I guess the Maras of the New York Giants too, but they've never been quite aS blatant about it. (Selling a stake to the Koch brothers doesn't help.] Goodell picked Rooney (Steelers owner) and Mara to lead the "independent" investigation into the Ray Rice case, which is like getting your college frat buddy investigate the exam you cheated on.
Goodell used to be buddy buddy with Paul Allen, the Seahawks owner, he let a bunch of their players off for using PEDs. But when Allen died, his sister took over and it's not the same.
Roger Goodell really dislikes the Cowboys/Jerry Jones, Al/Mark Davis and the Raiders, and the 49ers. Probably some other, but not that come to mind.
But the Cowboys are THE prestige team. America’s Team. The Cheerleaders. Always on prime time no matter how much they suck. Not to mention how Jones led the way to the NFL (and then all of American sports) reinventing merchandising and putting a BOATLOAD of money into everybody’s pockets. If the NFL was going to rig things they Cowboys would win Super bowls.
Remember the Ray Rice suspension came BEFORE the big rewrite of the Personal Conduct Policy, actually right before, actually probably inspired it. Prior to the rewrite you pretty much actually had to be at least charged preferably convicted to get suspended. After the rewrite anything that looked bad for the league, even if no charges were filed, became eligible for big suspensions.
Goodell doesn’t hate any of them. And especially not Jones. Jones is way too influential. If Jones hated Goodell he’d be gone.
My kid has the same opinion as the study results. Swears they’re being helped.
“…suggesting the phenomenon is unique to Kansas City’s emergence as a television ratings powerhouse, the study found.”
It’s not the league according to the article and it concerns the post season not the regular. I don’t follow football enough to know but my kid has mentioned this to me for years.
No, the Cowboys may be a popular team, but they aren't a high-toned prestige team. Haven't you heard of a prestige movie? They aren't the big blockbusters, they are movies that get good reviews, and bring "credit" to the studios. The Steelers have the Rooneys, the most respected owner, the ones that came up with the Rooney rule.
Have you ever worked in any organization, or you've just lived in a cave all your life? And especially not Jones. Jones is way too influential. If Jones hated Goodell he’d be gone.
LOL. Do you follow pro football at all? Do you know the shape of the ball they use?
It's no secret Goodell and Jones don't like each other. And by the way, Jones isn't popular with all the owners either. Did you read anything I wrote?
NFL confirms Jerry Jones' latest feud with Roger Goodell and the league
Jerry Jones names exactly what he wants from Roger Goodell in their ongoing feud NFL Owners Confidential: How Roger Goodell Survives Scandal — and a Jerry Jones Coup | PTFO
Do you want me to print the next 100 articles about it?
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