UTEP study: Kansas City Chiefs received favorable calls in playoffs

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A new study from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has uncovered how financial incentives may subtly shape officiating decisions in one of America’s most iconic institutions: the National Football League. By analyzing more than 13,000 penalty calls from 2015 to 2023, researchers found that postseason officiating has disproportionately favored the Patrick Mahomes–era Kansas City Chiefs, coinciding with their rise as one of the NFL’s most marketable franchises.

The study was conducted by three researchers including Spencer Barnes, an assistant professor of finance at UTEP’s Woody L. Hunt College of Business. They originally did the study seeking more information on regulatory capture, a financial and economics term that describes what happens when regulators give breaks to players for financial or political reasons.

“Our findings suggest that when the league’s financial health is at stake, rule enforcement may subtly shift to protect market appeal,” said Barnes.

Barnes says the implications go beyond football. The study draws parallels to financial markets, corporate governance and regulatory agencies, where dominant players may enjoy advantages not because of explicit corruption, but because institutions under pressure adapt to preserve stability and revenue.

"The NFL's a perfect setting to use to try to look at how regulatory capture impacts whether or not rule enforcement changes over time. And so that's why we ended up looking at it, because you get to see NFL officiating happen in real time. Second by second. There are big consequences for the actions and the rules that they enforce."

If you would like to view the full study, you can find it at this link.