You don’t need thousands of people to be in on it. Only the owners, commissioner, and the refs.
You can’t let the coaches or players in on it. They’ll start to not care and will start to half-ass it on the field. Which would be noticed by the fans, and would also lead to an inferior product.
You want a job as an NFL official? Here, sign this NDA, first. Now if we find out that you spoke about any of this, we take legal actions against you, and take everything you own. Or, you can shut up and get paid $250k per year to work 1 day per week for approximately 25 weeks.
Look at the league standings. It’s no surprise that most teams are right around .500. It keeps the fans interested in their teams, and keeps attendance up.
The owners are a collective unit of BILLIONAIRES. Most with very complex businesses besides their NFL team. Do you think that they don’t see “an officiating problem”? They have new rules every year for player safety and to tinker with the rules of the game, but they’re not going to bring up the officiating at all??
At what point do people start to connect the dots, follow the money, and see things for what they are, rather than just saying.. “It can’t be so”