In the hours after the Jan. 29 AFC Championship Game, where a field goal in the closing seconds lifted the Kansas City Chiefs past the Cincinnati Bengals following some controversial calls, "NFL Rigged" was trending on Twitter.
Hey, NFL, welcome to horse racing's world.
While every sport I've followed has had some scandals that would impact results—players shaving points or referees on the take in basketball, players using performance-enhancing drugs in football or baseball—these scandals typically are not followed by fan accusations that the entire sport is rigged.
Compared with these other sports, horse racing seems to have a higher percentage of fans that quickly resort to the accusation of rigging or the sport being fixed. While racing most assuredly has had its integrity issues, I think on some level this "fixed" assessment traces to frustrated bettors explaining their losses. And even though these assertions may not be based in fact, they too are of concern in terms of how people perceive a sport.
There's something about putting money on an event that shifts one's brain from thinking an official made a bad call to believing the official intentionally enforced a bad call to benefit one team, specifically, whichever team, or horse, the person bet against. Because throughout its history racing has been closely tied to legal gambling, this sentiment can be seen at live races and simulcasts throughout the country from a percentage of players as they rip up their losing tickets.
A percentage of bettors blames losses on jockeys holding back horses, stewards favoring certain horsemen over others, and trainers drugging horses—just to name a few of the infractions alleged by players explaining their losses to friends. It's been my experience that when these same players watch a race they didn't bet, there are no such allegations.
This is not to discount the real concerns about racing that horseplayers have reported in an effort to improve racing's integrity. After all, there is plenty to be concerned about in a sport that has seen two dozen people convicted in recent years of federal crimes related to doping horses.
But I think it's also fair to say that there's a percentage of losing bettors who allege wrongdoing based solely on the fact that a race didn't go their way. These players, in turn, voice those concerns to potential new fans, and suddenly horse racing faces a perception problem in terms of its legitimacy.
That brings us to the NFL. As legal gambling proliferates in the U.S., I've been keeping an eye on the NFL and other major sports to see if this same type of thing occurs—losing bettors alleging wrongdoing with little evidence to back those assertions. Granted, my approach has been less than scientific, but I would say the social media reaction after that AFC Championship suggests, on some level, this is happening.
Wait what in the hell happened how did they get an extra play!?!?
— Chris Maryinuk (@crabpitt) January 30, 2023
Is the #nfl actually rigged?!??#NFLPlayoff
I think "NFL rigged" trending on Twitter is a sign that the perceptions racing has seen based on unfounded accusations from people on the wrong end of a bet are now creeping into other sports. Yes, some of the frustration on social media likely came from Bengals fans who had just watched the Chiefs get two tries at converting a third down, but my guess is much of the uproar sourced to losing bettors. After all, it wasn't "Bad calls," that was trending, it was "NFL rigged."
In my opinion, the officiating crew during that game made some huge mistakes. But until offered additional evidence that I'm not expecting to see, I would chalk this up as human error. But for those who just lost money on the game, it may feel a lot like theft—and off to Twitter they go to voice their accusations.
With legal wagering now widely available, it will be imperative for sports to deliver the highest level of integrity as well as effective communication to explain what is being done to prevent cheating or fixing. That communication will be needed to address any issues of concern and why actions are taken. If officials make a mistake, it will be important to use social media, press releases, and news conferences in which the officials are available to explain why that mistake occurred. If officials make the right call, it will be important to explain why it was the right call.
And, of course, any real issues of integrity need to be fully addressed. That has always been the case in sport, but I would say it's even more true as people bet money on these events.
Racing is finally addressing some of its real issues of integrity through the planned launch of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's oversight of anti-doping and medication rules this spring. HISA also has voiced its commitment to communicate what is being done to reshape regulation of the sport.
In terms of perception issues and racing integrity, tracks that post written or video explanations of stewards' decisions are helping to address these concerns. These are areas where racing is making some positive strides. More of that is needed. For instance, every track should have its rules of racing posted on its site, covering topics such as interference, late scratches, scratches of one horse in an entry, and late surface changes and how they impact wagers. The same should be true of advance-deposit wagering outlets—for every track for which they accept wagers.
In the days after that AFC Championship game, I heard calls to make officials available to a full press conference (as opposed to a single pool reporter) and for more technology to get the calls right. We've heard similar calls in racing as well. Racing and other sports need to flood fans with information and provide transparency. It provides a counter to those quick to conclude that a sport is not on the up and up.
Racing should work to be a leader in this area, one that other sports can follow as they too observe a percentage of their fans shifting from "We need better umpires" to "The whole sport is fixed."
