With young quarterback Patrick Mahomes<\/a> leading the charge in 2020, they bested the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LIV and narrowly beat them again four years later. In 2023, they were also Super Bowl champs, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles with a game-winning field goal. Before that, they had not clinched the title since 1970.<\/p>\n But academics at the University of Texas El Paso and institutions across the eastern U.S. have suggested their winning record could have had a helping hand. <\/p>\n In an analysis of more than 13,000 penalty calls spanning from 2015 to 2023, they found that postseason officiating has disproportionately favored the Mahomes\u2013era Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n That\u2019s something they suggest could be tied to financial pressure on the league, noting that the findings show correlation but not proof of any corruption.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n The Kansas City Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowls in the last three years. But a new analysis of more than 13,000 penalty calls game results into question (Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that postseason penalties consistently favored one franchise, while similar dynasties showed no such pattern, points to the powerful role of financial incentives in shaping supposedly neutral decisions,\u201d Dr. Spencer Barnes, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Texas at El Paso\u2019s Woody L. Hunt College of Business, said of the new study<\/a>. <\/p>\n The NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL Referees Association did not immediately respond to The Independent\u2019s request for comment on the matter.<\/p>\n During the Mahomes-era playoffs, which the researchers said was the NFL\u2019s most commercially valuable period, penalties against opposing defensive players were 23 percent more likely to result in first downs, cover an average of 2.36 yardage and were 28 percent more likely fall into subjective categories such as roughing the passer or pass interference, the study found. <\/p>\n However, the same effects were not seen for the Tom Brady\u2013era New England Patriots and other winning teams, the researchers said. <\/p>\n This, they argued, suggests the phenomenon is unique to the Chiefs, who became good for TV ratings.<\/p>\n \u201cThis research not only deepens our understanding of sports governance, but also illustrates a larger societal concern: when financial pressure weighs heavily, impartiality can erode,\u201d Dr. John Hadjimarcou, dean of the Woody L. Hunt College of Business, said. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n The NFL\u2019s ratings fell before the Patrick Mahomes era, the researchers said. But last year was the most-watched Super Bowl of all time (Getty Images)<\/p>\n This year\u2019s Super Bowl, which the Chiefs lost to the Eagles, was the most-watched in history, pulling in nearly 128 million viewers, according to Nielsen data cited by Variety<\/a>. <\/p>\n Previous years before Mahomes saw ratings drop, with viewers tuning out during civil rights protests, according to Alabama\u2019s Samford University<\/a>. Although, the league\u2019s ratings were still \u201cby far and away the most attractive property in all of television by a huge margin,\u201d CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said then<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now in its 106th season, the NFL has grown by about $1 billion a year since 2010 and generates more than $20 billion in annual revenue, according to The New York Times<\/a>. It\u2019s projected to reach a goal of $25 billion<\/a> and a recent Sports Business Journal report<\/a> says they\u2019re just $2 billion short.<\/p>\n This season, the Chiefs have a losing record through five games for just the second time in the Mahomes era, start at 2-3. They had 13 penalties<\/a> in a game on Monday, losing 31-28 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.<\/p>\n Still, they started the same way in 2021 before turning things around to go 12-5, losing in the AFC Championship Game to Cincinnati, NFL.com<\/a> said.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-1845781277.jpeg\")
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