It may come as a surprise to some that the potential viewership of Super Bowl LIX could be significantly less in comparison to previous years. Since the Kansas City Chiefs’ ongoing playoff run began during the 2019-2020 season, the National Football League has been facing an increase of hateful backlash from previously dedicated football fans. This backlash and overall decline in ratings is not due to the dislike of a Chiefs’ player or coach, but can be traced directly to repetitive accusations regarding poor referee calls in regular season and postseason games.
Devout football fans across the United States are blowing up social media sites, saying they will be boycotting Super Bowl LIX due to this NFL controversy. With Fairfield University shutting down the RecPlex to watch the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, featuring the returning Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, will Fairfield students follow America’s lead and also reject the NFL?
Many students at Fairfield have turned to the app Fizz in order to voice their frustrations regarding the Super Bowl under an anonymous name. One Fizz poll, with over 1,267 responses, claimed that 40% of students flat out “didn’t care about the Super Bowl,” while 44% of students claimed that they were hoping the Philadelphia Eagles would win. The remaining 16% of students would be cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs this coming Sunday.
In another Fizz poll, 149 of 381 respondents claimed that they were “absolutely not” going to watch the Super Bowl this year due to the Chiefs going for a “three peat” win which has never been accomplished before in the NFL.
Even with the ongoing criticisms tarnishing the NFL’s reputation, sophomore student Colin Hines says he will watch the Super Bowl on February 9th, regardless of the teams involved. Growing up watching football, Hines has been a New England Patriots fan through and through and remains optimistic about the future of the NFL.
During this year’s AFC Championship game between the Buffalo Bills and the Chiefs, controversial calls were the unwanted highlight of the game. With the game on the line, the Bills pushed forward using a quarterback sneak to gain a first down, reviving the possibility of winning the conference title. Josh Allen, quarterback of the Bills, seemed to pass the line, with one referee calling the first down good. Seconds later, the call was overturned, putting the ball back into Patrick Mahomes’ hands and securing the win for the Chiefs; sending them to the Super Bowl for the third straight year in a row. For many NFL fans, this was not a surprise call made in favor of the Chiefs.
Fans across the country were awestruck due to the call by the referees, with slow-motion videos circulating the internet showing the Buffalo Bills’ football seemingly making it across the first down marker.
Throughout the 2024-2025 NFL season, the Chiefs receiving alleged advantageous calls to their game play was not uncommon to hear. According to various statistics, these accusations against NFL referees may not be that far off. According to a CBS Sports Instagram post, the opponents of the Kansas City Chiefs had more penalties in 11 straight playoff games. Since its creation, the NFL has attempted to appear as a fair and honest organization. With recent statistics emerging, such as “78% of fans believe the NFL is rigged” according to an Instagram post from NFL Preme, the NFL has had a difficult time upholding this positive outward appearance.
On Change.org, NFL fans have called for action and “a full, independent investigation” on refereeing. This specific petition titled “Transparency and Accountability from NFL, the Commissioner, and Referees” has received almost 3,000 signatures in under 4 days.
With Super Bowl watch parties already planned by building coordinators of sophomore and first-year residence buildings, will Fairfield students show up to support the NFL or will the Super Bowl LIX boycott extend its influence to students on campus?
Leave a Reply