When small leagues get caught rigging games, they lose credibility, so do you really think it never happens in major leagues?
I’m talking about the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS, and global football (soccer) leagues. If you’re not new to sports betting, I’m sure you’ve heard or read speculations that some games might be rigged. But since these are major leagues with billions of dollars at stake, if the industry were to be exposed, it could collapse. That’s why no one big ever gets caught, only players or referees who could just be the fall guys.
So here’s the question, do you believe the league itself could be the mastermind, doing this to beat the betting public? And if this is really happening but can’t be proven, what’s our approach as bettors to still make a profit from it?
I don't see any need for such big and serious leagues to rig the game, because they get a lot of money from advertising anyway. Why would they risk their authority and persuade several unreliable people to collude?
Only small leagues that don't get such huge amounts of money and their teams (or individual players) are forced to look for additional sources of income need this. In general, my opinion is that they hardly do this.