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?
For the major leagues, to make rigging profitable, they would have to operate with really large amounts, so there's no way it could go undetected and bookies would not let it slide.
Also, it would be very hard to keep a secret in team sports where so many players are involved. Each player in the major leagues is earning really good bucks, so it wouldn't make sense for them to agree to put their entire careers at risk (and potentially risk jail time) to get involved in game rigging when they can earn big money in a legit way.
If there's any rigging involved, it would probably be done by rogue individuals rather than entire teams/leagues.