Dude, the league had nothing to do with it. It was a frivolous suit filed by some huckster attorney who files all sorts of the same. It was no smoking gun. It went away because it was an embarrassment of a claim. All sporting events are entertainment, all sports are protected from proclaimed "damages" suffered by ticket holders. The NFL didnt make this go away, it went away because it was a joke
Wrong
Baseball is technically a “sport” and as such, part of their anti-trust exemption RELIES on a fair contest. That may be changing since the latest Astro cheating where baseball didn’t vacate the titles of the cheaters like in the past, but that’s more a function of a dysfunctional Congress (both shitty parties) than that the rules for over 100 years of precedent were broken and not fully enforced as in years past.
The NFL argued in court that the Jets fan was only entitled to a ticket to the show as the NFL is under no obligation to guarantee a fair contest as they are not classified as a sport, but entertainment.
The NFL’s own attorneys argued that point in court which isn’t the biggest deal unlike their arguing that the NFL is a single entity and not 32 independent clubs which would be devastating for confidence in any league in the US because if a sports league is a singular entity whose sole purpose is to benefit the whole, there is nothing beyond marketing to prevent the leagues from creatively steering outcomes moreso than now.
And that argument of the NFL being sports entertainment was crucial in derailing any serious congressional inquiries surrounding Deflategate as Congress didn’t have any remedies for the cheating like they would on baseball which unlike EVERY OTHER LEAGUE enjoys broad antitrust exemptions.
Also, baseball has an INDEPENDENT Commissioner that has authority over the league including the owners.
The NFL Commissioner is more of a corporate development/PR spokesman/internal manager. He is NOT an independent commissioner like in baseball and that has legal ramifications that benefit football including less congressional oversight due to the lesser standard of entertainment as opposed to the higher standard of sport.
I like football and occasionally like wrestling. I realize in the NFL that most games aren’t rigged (guided) and that those that are even if dealt heavy-handedly can go the opposite way… like if Kupp doesn’t catch that ball, we lose the Super Bowl
Anyway, I’ve tried to show how easy it would be to guide games. It doesn’t require a grand conspiracy. Folks forget Tim Donaghy and a few others who escaped being caught and how easy it was for him for years to steer outcomes of games without being caught
So it’s occasionally guided outcomes, not the offensively caricatured “scripting” that is so nonsensical that it’s beyond absurd. And… even then, it doesn’t always work and they leave it at that because they mostly get what they want which is amazing “narratives” every year and increased interest n the NFL. Injuries happen and sometimes a critical play doesn’t get executed… a guy doesn’t make a tackle, or does and that can’t be undone umpteen times. One or two ghost calls is about it.
Anyway, if folks think that the NFL leaves the multi-billion dollar season to total chance… I dunno what to say. They start in October with the “narratives” and then focus on fewer as injuries happen and whatnot. By the playoffs, every playoff team since Super Bowl 36 has had a well established narrative. We haven’t seen a team like GSOT since then and that’s because teams can’t just rise from nothing anymore. How many times were the Lions screwed out of the playoffs in favor of the Packers? That alone is a scandal and the evidence for the Lions is voluminous.
Anyway, if you believe in Fate, it’s all predetermined anyway and if not, the guiding provides a little respite from the unrelenting chaos.
I guess what I’m saying is that even if outcomes were occasionally guided, it’s unfortunate and upsetting, but it’s not that serious
I guess I’m becoming more sanguine in my old age…