One of my coworkers is convinced that the NBA finals are rigged. It's a fairly common debate surrounding any big professional sport that is broadcast. The rose-colored glass view is that teams in the finals are so well-matched, each striving, pushing to win, that they inevitably will play the full seven games. The cynic reminds us of the millions of dollars pouring in from advertisers and arenas.
From a network's perspective it makes sense. They rely on a certain number of eyeballs, or ratings to keep advertisers happy. For the big-buck spending brands who've invested millions in sponsorships and commercials, what a let down if one team sweeps the first four games.
No one can seem to provide a straight answer on this. While there's no lack of musings and accusations online, most are wrought with question marks. It's like one of those conspiracy theory movies where everyone is in on it except the oblivious public. It's gotten to the point where we may speculate, but lack of resolution one way or the other causes us to accept this possible (yet unproven) deception as the status quo, as just part of sports culture.
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