With the NFL growing around the world, the state of NFL officiating has a global impact. As fans, we purchase tickets, gear, memorabilia, media packages to watch games, etc. I believe, along with a lot of other fans, that the NFL has been shaping seasons by favoring specific teams as the season wears on. Namely, over the last three seasons, this team has been the Kansas City Chiefs. Us fans believe that the league is using referees to shape the outcomes of games. This has become painfully more obvious with this most recent playoff game, the Chiefs vs. the Texans. 

     The reason why this is most concerning is because of how prevalent gambling is in modern times and the league continuously does not hold the officials accountable for botched calls. Fanduel, MGM, DraftKings, etc., has a strong presence in the NFL. It is constantly being thrown in our face. Taking this in consideration, along with the gray areas of how much NFL referees make, it is fair to question whether these referees are benefiting financially by gambling and fixing games. 

     In totality, who wins? The NFL, referees, and the teams and fans designed to win. The NFL wins because they still make all of their money while talking about adding another game to the regular season. The Chiefs bring in good money for the NFL. The Kelce and Mahomes' families are great revenue. Taylor Swift brings in more fans and she's also great revenue. The referees benefit because although they are part time, they are possibly making money from gambling. The Chiefs organization benefits because of the revenue and winning. 

     Who are the losers? The fans of every other NFL team. Every fan of the sport (for those who appreciate integrity for the sport). The government? The current state of officiating in the NFL is very concerning and to say that it is questionable is an understatement. I propose that the government steps in to investigate the NFL to see if referees are being used to fixed the outcomes of games. Furthermore, I suggest that the government enacts laws that will help prevent referees or any NFL official from doing any sort of gambling on games. 

     It is extremely important to act now because I believe that it has become very obvious to a lot of people that referees are being used to fix games. It is now getting to the point where commentators are getting fed up with it. Players get fined for speaking out against calls. Things are only going to get worse and I can only imagine how much illegal gambling is going on. So not only do the implications only impact fans of the NFL, but they could also impact the government. As fans, like I mentioned earlier, we invest in our teams. I'm a Steelers fan. I love my Steelers. I love football. I deserve more. Every fan of the NFL deserves more. We are being promised a product that we are not receiving (except for maybe Chiefs fans). It's false advertisement and we are being ripped off.