Everyone has been taking sides ahead of Super Bowl LIX, with two clear choices: Those who think the NFL and officials are conspiring to help the Kansas City Chiefs win another Super Bowl, versus those who think that’s a ridiculous, tinfoil hat conspiracy.
The battle lines are drawn. ESPN’s Mike Greenberg clearly staked out his side in that debate Thursday with a rant shredding those who believe the conspiracy theory.
“No, it’s not rigged. No it’s not fixed,” Greenberg said on his ESPN Radio show Greeny. “No, [NFL commissioner] Roger Goodell is not telling the refs what to do. Officials, like anyone else are human, and they give the benefit of the doubt to the greats, because sometimes it is just a natural instinct. So the idea that this is rigged, fixed, whatever other word, scripted … nothing could be further from the truth.
“Roger Goodell is overseeing a $20 billion a year industry that is going to make $20 billion this year whether the Chiefs are in the Super Bowl or not. If it somehow came out that the commissioner of the NFL or anyone else was fixing the games with the refs, that would be literally the only way that those $20 billion go away.”
And since almost every conspiracy theory involving the Chiefs seems to mention Taylor Swift, Greenberg covered that base, too.
“You think they’re risking $20 billion because they have a hankering to see Taylor Swift in a skybox at the Super Bowl, which will not influence the ratings one bit?!” Greenberg asked.
“You’re out of your mind! So I don’t understand that at all.”
ICYMI: @Espngreeny went OFF on people who think the NFL is rigged in favor of the @Chiefs:
“You think they’re risking $20 billion because they have a hankering to see Taylor Swift in a skybox at the Super Bowl, which will not influence the rating one bit?!” 😳 pic.twitter.com/JMdXMx2vQl
— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) January 29, 2025
“[The Chiefs] are in no way the first great team, nor is he, [Patrick] Mahomes, the first all-time great star, to get the benefit of a whistle,” Greenberg continued. “And in no way does anyone who really knows anything, believe these games are rigged or fixed.”
The Chiefs have certainly benefited from a number of questionable officiating calls this season on their march to a possible record third straight Super Bowl victory. And people have been talking. SiriusXM host Adam Schein ripped the officiating in the AFC Championship, specifically a fourth-down play where Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen appeared to get the first down, only to be ruled short.
“First ref comes in, first down. Second ref comes in, hold on, Taylor Swift gets to go to the Super Bowl. Let’s take a breath,” Schein said.
The conspiracy has become such a hot issue that ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter came under fire for mentioning it. When reporting the league possibly expanding its replay assist system, Schefter wrote, “For all those complaining that Patrick Mahomes gets too many calls, relief soon could be on the way.”
Even Fox rules analyst and former NFL referee Dean Blandino admitted this week his brother believes the conspiracy: “My brother’s like, ‘They want Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl!'” Blandino said on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio.
Greenberg isn’t the first media personality to hammer the conspiracy talk. Earlier this week, FS1’s Nick Wright called out the media for letting social media engagement farmers influence the narrative.
“Everyone has had their brain rotted by an algorithm,” Wright said on The Dan Patrick Show.
Expect plenty more conspiracy talk leading up to Super Bowl LIX.
