A study at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) suggests that NFL officiating has heavily favored the Kansas City Chiefs over much of the last decade, during a period when the Midwest-based franchise experienced significant growth in marketability.
The study, published in the Financial Review, is described by the UTEP research team as “one of the clearest empirical looks at how financial pressures can influence real-time rule enforcement.”
The study, titled “Under (Financial) Pressure,” looked at over 13,000 defensive penalties from between 2015 and 2023.
Given the study’s focus on finances and marketability, the analysis concentrated on the playoffs because it is the most lucrative time of year for the NFL and advertising sales.
The study found that penalties against opposing defenses of the Chiefs’ offense were significantly more “likely to result in first downs, cover more yardage, and fall into subjective categories such as roughing the passer or pass interference.”
Of note, the study found that previous dynasties, such as New England’s run of dominance under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, did not enjoy the same level of favorable officiating.