Random Biggest Sports-Related Conspiracy Theories (21 items)

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  (#2) The NBA Is Totally Rigged

  Ever since NBA referee Tim Donaghy went public with his involvement in gambling and on influencing the outcome of games, sports writers and fans have had concrete evidence to back up what they’ve suspected all along: that the league is rigged to allow the best teams to make the most money, with lucrative playoff series being extended and star players being earmarked for major franchises.

  It was Donaghy who first stated outright that the infamous Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals was fixed to extend the series and keep the Lakers alive. Of course, Donaghy himself has put himself in a position to profit from this rigging, selling betting tips and keeping himself in the news.
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  (#14) Bobby Riggs Took A Dive In The Battle Of The Sexes

  Did Bobby Riggs intentionally lose to Billie Jean King in the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match to settle his gambling debts? Neither Riggs nor King ever claimed anything of the sort. King claimed she played as if Riggs was trying to beat her, and that she was just the better player that day.

  And though the game was played under normal rules of tennis (as opposed to rules modified to help King), Riggs was 25 years older than King and far from in top shape. He was also unprepared and assumed he’d have no trouble beating King.
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  (#11) The NFL Ordered The Super Bowl Blackout

  When the lights went out on Super Bowl XLVII, of course conspiracies followed. One says that the NFL caused the blackout in order to increase their ratings, because people who had turned the game off would go back to it to see what was happening. While it’s true that ratings probably would have eroded if the game was a blowout, television networks don’t get people to turn in by having things not happen.

  And while there might have been more airtime to run ads, it didn’t matter, because CBS had already sold all of the ads they were going to sell, and were forced to repeat spots. Which is exactly the opposite of what they wanted to happen.
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  (#16) Super Bowl III Was Fixed

  Super Bowl III, in which Joe Namath guaranteed victory for his upstart New York Jets, was a pivotal moment for the NFL. They had just merged with the AFL, but the NFL teams had proven themselves far superior. Another Super Bowl win by an NFL team might have proven the AFL to be inherently inferior, and driven fans away. So did the league arrange for the team it needed to win to, in fact, win?

  That was the opinion of Baltimore Colts player Bubba Smith, who theorized that the league rigged the game to allow the more lucrative AFL team to beat his Colts. While the Jets, who were an 18.5 point underdog, pulled off an unthinkable upset, it was just as likely due to the Colts playing poorly and underestimating the Jets, rather than shenanigans by the NFL.
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  (#12) Brett Favre Retired Early To Distance Himself From Scandal

  After being cut by the Green Bay Packers, quarterback Brett Favre spent one difficult year with the New York Jets, which culminated in the NFL fining him for sexual harassment.

  The investigation into Favre’s misconduct coincided with the last year of his career, 2010, with speculation rising up that Favre faked an injury and retired, rather than have his career ended due to his own shenanigans. In the end though, it’s obvious that Favre was in no shape to play anymore, and hadn’t been for some time.
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  (#5) The Head Of Maradona, The Hand Of God

  Was the most famous goal in world soccer history, Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup against England, actually punched in by the Argentinian striker?

  Maradona has, in his usual gadfly style, fanned the flames of the controversy, while subsequent photographic evidence has shown pretty clearly that Maradona palmed the ball in, meaning it shouldn’t have counted. But it did, and a legend was born.

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