Are Major League Sports Games Scripted?

[DarkRange55]

Fairly popular conspiracy theory- wdyt?

 

[itsgone2]

Scripted seems difficult but we have evidence of players doing things to affect betting lines, we just don't know how far that goes.

 

[idontknowwhatiam]

Fairly popular conspiracy theory- wdyt?

No

 

[DownwardSpiral]

I thought about this watching football the other day. Right when the Seahawks were pulling away in the 3rd quarter and it looked like the Rams already lost, a Seahawks player got a taunting call that miraculously brought the Rams back in it at the last moment. The Rams still lost but it made the game far more interesting, and kept me watching for another 45 minutes.

I realized that many games this seasons felt that way. There was some bad call by the ref, a stupid penalty from a player, a missed field goal, or bad play that turned things around when one team would start looking like a clear winner. It could definitely be a coincidence, but I can't help but think how simple it would be for the multi billionare CEOs of the teams to just bribe the players, coaches, refs, etc. to throw a play or seize an opportunity for a bad call. Obviously you can't fake an entire game because it's too complex, but they could tell people to "make the game more interesting" if a chance to do that were to appear. With all the gambling ads and money being made from sports, is it really that crazy of a theory? I don't think so. It's probably happening in every sport too, not just football.

 

[Dejected 55]

I knew a guy who asserted this... he would yell at all the clouds about this... but he never had even a shred of proof.

There have been corrupt players and officials and owners who cheat or bet against their teams or point-shave or various things to exploit to their own advantage. This has always been true. But I can't believe that any of the major sports leagues have a top-down scripted situation that they could get everyone to participate in... The disparity of pay between the top and bottom athletes alone would be enough to crack that scheme because people making the least would threaten to tell the public the scam if they didn't get more of a cut of the profits. It wouldn't be sustainable.

Of course, I guess the bosses could be the only ones who know... the players could be left out of the loop and think they are really playing for real... but even then, cracks would have to show when players were asked to do things that didn't make sense to avoid winning too often.

This is the kind of conspiracy theory that works best if your team loses and you think you were robbed... but it really doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

Things like the WWE and all the "pro" wrestling leagues were never secretive about it being an act. Everyone is in on it... and the ones who don't want to lose all the time renegotiate their contracts OR leave the "sport"... and some fans delude themselves to think it real, but no one ever tried to convince the public it was real.

IF professional sports were scripted, it would have come out so long ago and it would not be the big business it is today. That kind of secret could just not be kept for very long... and people who know it is scripted would not support the sport in the same way financially as they do now because of "anything can happen."