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The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NASCAR
Professional sports in it's all about fair play and the goal of winning championships. At least that's the spin. But could it be a massive showbiz operation filled with greedy owners, crooked referees, and coddled players, all with the unstated goal of grabbing as much money as possible?Author Brian Tuohy provides a full-sourced saga of the corruption that has infected the storied histories of the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, and NASCAR.With reality obscured by a complacent and often complicit sports media, The Fix Is In shines a light on a hidden history of clandestine arrangements between television networks and sports leagues, all against a background of drinking, drugging, and crime.Finally, here's a book that unflinchingly examines the sordid underbelly of the American sports industry.
- GenresSports
323 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2010
35 people are currently reading
250 people want to read
About the author
Brian Tuohy
7 books8 followersBrian Tuohy is America’s leading expert on game fixing in sports and is recognized as a scholarly authority by the United States Supreme Court (seriously). He has written for the likes of Vice Sports, Sports on Earth, Bleacher Report, History Magazine, Paranoia, Music Inc. and worked with the Center for Investigative Reporting to produce an article for Sports Illustrated. He has been a guest on over 200 different national & local radio programs and podcasts, and has spoken at Florida State University, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and Columbia College Chicago. Despite all of these accomplishments, the national sports media by and large ignores his work.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 8, 2019
I wish I’d never wasted my time reading this stupid book. There is lots of interesting information in the book and it explains the marketing of professional sports but the conclusions are far fetched at best at worst borderline conspiracy theories. Each fix makes sense on its own but put together they make no sense to me. This book was 300 pages, I think it would have been shrunk down to 100 pages and it would have been more interesting. I felt like reading this book was like arguing with my girlfriend where she’d make her point but go on for another half hour. In this case the author goes on page after page “evidence” to cite his case. If you like reading conspiracy theories, you’ll love this tome.
April 30, 2010
This is the sports book every fan should read. For someone who thought he knew sports, it is stunning what's revealed in these pages. The author not only tears apart the leagues by exposing the lies they've told to their fans, but he makes a convincing case that the games have been fixed by the big businesses that are pro sports and television. While most may see this book as nothing but a "conspiracy theory," in truth the author uses facts and quotes taken from reliable sources to prove his case. I know I will never watch a game the same way again.
June 18, 2019
One of the reasons sports continue to maintain their popularity because we perceive the outcome to be organic and not manufactured like "reality" TV or scripted drama. But....what if sports are not that different from other forms of entertainment? That's basically the idea behind this book.
The book is very thorough in describing the motives of fans, owners, and players and the various ways in which the games are subject to manipulation: crime, gambling, drugs, and television. There are examples given from each of the four major professional sports plus NASCAR. That kept the book to a manageable 300 pages - if it had included an examination of the Olympics and collegiate sports who knows where the page count would have wound up. (1000? 3000?)
There are thorough examinations of suspicious events such as the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery and Michael Jordan's two-year "retirement" from the NBA, which are interesting, but there's nothing really groundbreaking in the book regarding those events that can't be found elsewhere. I'm not a NASCAR fan, however, so learning about the legend of "The Call" was something new.
Weak spots? The author speculates that Super Bowl III was not an upset of the heavily favored Colts by the AFL Jets, but that it was in fact fixed because the owners wanted to maximize their TV deal for the full merger in 1970 and as a result they needed to show that the two leagues were on an even playing field. He lays out how the performances of the two teams in the Super Bowl were uncharacteristic of how they had played all season. It's an interesting theory and maybe it's true. But it falls a little short in explaining exactly what the incentive for the Colts to roll over would have been. He says the payback came in the form of delivering Super Bowl V to the Colts and later a couple of Super Bowls to Don Shula when he was with the Dolphins. Okay......but then he says Super Bowl IV was likely fixed as well in favor of the Chiefs. He doesn't really supply what the logic would have been on the Vikings side for that one. What did the NFL promise them? A trio of Super Bowl failures in the 1970s?
The author clearly has an ax to grind with the NFL specifically. The last 40 pages of the book are theories on how every Super Bowl from 1996 through 2009 could have been fixed. Again, it's mostly looking at unusual things that happened and then coming up with a reason why the NFL wanted that outcome or who they were trying to pay back for some previous favor. Some of them are intriguing but there are also some big reaches. I'm not exactly sure why he wanted to include this section and I think he burned up a large portion of the credibility he had built up throughout the book. The NFL is certainly powerful, but is it really a vast conspiracy that controls everything and everyone within its reach?
Overall, good background that will make you examine the sports you've been watching a little more closely. But does it blow the lid off sports in America? Not quite.
The book is very thorough in describing the motives of fans, owners, and players and the various ways in which the games are subject to manipulation: crime, gambling, drugs, and television. There are examples given from each of the four major professional sports plus NASCAR. That kept the book to a manageable 300 pages - if it had included an examination of the Olympics and collegiate sports who knows where the page count would have wound up. (1000? 3000?)
There are thorough examinations of suspicious events such as the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery and Michael Jordan's two-year "retirement" from the NBA, which are interesting, but there's nothing really groundbreaking in the book regarding those events that can't be found elsewhere. I'm not a NASCAR fan, however, so learning about the legend of "The Call" was something new.
Weak spots? The author speculates that Super Bowl III was not an upset of the heavily favored Colts by the AFL Jets, but that it was in fact fixed because the owners wanted to maximize their TV deal for the full merger in 1970 and as a result they needed to show that the two leagues were on an even playing field. He lays out how the performances of the two teams in the Super Bowl were uncharacteristic of how they had played all season. It's an interesting theory and maybe it's true. But it falls a little short in explaining exactly what the incentive for the Colts to roll over would have been. He says the payback came in the form of delivering Super Bowl V to the Colts and later a couple of Super Bowls to Don Shula when he was with the Dolphins. Okay......but then he says Super Bowl IV was likely fixed as well in favor of the Chiefs. He doesn't really supply what the logic would have been on the Vikings side for that one. What did the NFL promise them? A trio of Super Bowl failures in the 1970s?
The author clearly has an ax to grind with the NFL specifically. The last 40 pages of the book are theories on how every Super Bowl from 1996 through 2009 could have been fixed. Again, it's mostly looking at unusual things that happened and then coming up with a reason why the NFL wanted that outcome or who they were trying to pay back for some previous favor. Some of them are intriguing but there are also some big reaches. I'm not exactly sure why he wanted to include this section and I think he burned up a large portion of the credibility he had built up throughout the book. The NFL is certainly powerful, but is it really a vast conspiracy that controls everything and everyone within its reach?
Overall, good background that will make you examine the sports you've been watching a little more closely. But does it blow the lid off sports in America? Not quite.
July 7, 2025
I did not enjoy The fix is in as much as I did the fix is still in. I still liked this book though.
As I probably wrote in my review of The fix is still on I used to be a huge sports fan and never questioned what I was watching or the information I got from the pro sports leagues. I had thought that fixed games happened years ago probably stopping in the 1950's. I thought everything the commissioner of a league said must be true. And nothing was manipulated.
Probably the most interesting thing to read about in the book was super bowl 3. I was not as interested in reading about the other super bowls. I also liked the discussion about Michael Jordon. And the part talking about how TV effected pro sports was also interesting to me. I had never given that much though.
The most interesting question to me that he asked in the book is Why do you like sports? I don't have an answer for that, yet. Another question that I wondered when I read the book is why do athletes with lots of money gamble? It can't be that they need money.
So I thought some of the fix was in was interesting and other parts were tedious to read. It certainly made me wonder why I would believe everything that a sports league told me.
As I probably wrote in my review of The fix is still on I used to be a huge sports fan and never questioned what I was watching or the information I got from the pro sports leagues. I had thought that fixed games happened years ago probably stopping in the 1950's. I thought everything the commissioner of a league said must be true. And nothing was manipulated.
Probably the most interesting thing to read about in the book was super bowl 3. I was not as interested in reading about the other super bowls. I also liked the discussion about Michael Jordon. And the part talking about how TV effected pro sports was also interesting to me. I had never given that much though.
The most interesting question to me that he asked in the book is Why do you like sports? I don't have an answer for that, yet. Another question that I wondered when I read the book is why do athletes with lots of money gamble? It can't be that they need money.
So I thought some of the fix was in was interesting and other parts were tedious to read. It certainly made me wonder why I would believe everything that a sports league told me.
April 15, 2023
I wanted to enjoy this book, I really did.
I’m a UK-born Pittsburgh Steelers fan who’s been convinced the outcomes of NFL games are predetermined since the 2017 Super Bowl – you know, the one where long-time have-nots the Atlanta Falcons mysteriously blew a 28-3 third quarter lead to the financial golden goose that the New England Patriots have become – but had started to smell a rat quite a while before that. I mean, isn’t it a bit odd that league poster-boys Ray Lewis, Peyton Manning, John Elway and Jerome Bettis all mysteriously won championships in their final game, with Bettis even doing so in his hometown in what is widely considered one of the worst officiated games in NFL History? Isn’t it a little convenient that, the year after a poll voted the 2008 New York Vs New England Super Bowl the greatest of all time, the 2011 finale ended with those same two teams, producing the exact same result in a game that was itself almost a play-by-play reproduction of its predecessor? I could go on, but I’m sure you get the idea.
Sadly, this book just does not live up to expectations, or even basic publishing standards. I want to start by saying I read it on a Kindle, and stopped reporting the obvious transcription errors about 10% of the way through, because I was spending more time reporting than reading. I’d like to think this is just an issue with scanning software, but it genuinely damaged the experience for me.
The next issue for me is the inaccurate reporting, and general bias towards sensationalism. I’m going to share a few examples of what I mean, all of which relate to the NFL as, of the five sports examined, it’s the one I’m most knowledgeable about.
1) “Just prior to his rookie year in 2000, Jamal Lewis of the Cleveland Browns used a cell phone to set up a drug deal”
Lewis was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2000, and played for them until 2007. He won the Super Bowl with them in 2001, the Offensive Player of the Year award and the league’s rushing yards title in 2003. He then transferred to the Cleveland Browns where he had two solid, but unremarkable seasons and a third cut short by injury, after which he retired. What I’m getting at here is that, presenting him as being “of the Cleveland Browns” does not tally with how most people would think of him. It’s not technically inaccurate as he did play for them, but it leaves out a lot of and is very sloppy writing.
Additionally, the facts of this are debatable. In his excellent book “Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today’s NFL” John Feinstein is given access to sit-in on everything the Ravens did for an entire year, which happened to be the year Lewis was prosecuted for the aforementioned drug deal. Feinstein, having behind-the-scenes access to then team president Dick Caas, who oversaw handling of the prosecution from the team’s perspective, explains out that Lewis was the victim of a sting operation designed to borderline entrap famous young people, particularly athletes, and that Lewis’ involvement was little more than allowing an attractive woman to use his phone while she was trying to seduce him. As is often the case, the truth probably fits somewhere in between the two accounts, but when you have a Steelers fan defending a rat-birds player, there’s something very wrong!
2) “Denver Broncos star wide receiver Brandon Marshall was arrested on three separate occasions in the year between March 2007 and 2008. His three-game suspension for violating the leagues personal conduct policy was lowered to just one game.
Again, while technically correct, in his desire to paint NFL players as lawless thugs who get away with anything because of their status Tuohy ignores the wider context – Marshall was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder in 2011, has been receiving treatment for since then and since understanding his condition has become a mental health charity advocate. Oh, and one of the arrests was for making an illegal lane-change while driving very slightly over the limit, hardly something that requires a SWAT team!
3) “Other teams, such as the 1980s Oakland Raiders, the 1990s Buffalo Bills and the 2000s Philadelphia Eagles could also be labelled as dynasty teams. Though these teams failed to win Super Bowl after Super Bowl, each had great success over a four-to-six year period of time, much like their dynasty counterparts.”
Crikey! Where to even start with this one… Okay, the Raiders played in two Super Bowls during the 1980’s, winning both, so pretty much everything about them in this statement is simply wrong.
Secondly, the 2000s Eagles failed to win 10 successive Super Bowls between 2000 and 2010, but the problem is they only played in one Super Bowl during that period. By that logic, you could say that every team in the NFL bar the Patriots (who won three in a four year period during that time) and the Steelers (who on two in a four year period during that time). Linking to the Bills four Super Bowl losses in a row feels as though Tuohy is trying to suggest the Eagles reached several Super Bowls only to fall at the last hurdle. When they only even made it to that hurdle once.
I could keep going with the examples, but I hope you see what I’m saying here: The subject matter is genuinely interesting, but the way the evidence is presented feels like the book equivalent of a lawyer asking “Have you had an accident or a fall at work that wasn’t your fault? Call us for a no-win / no-fee consultation!” It cheapens something which, if addressed correctly, could have been great.
I’m a UK-born Pittsburgh Steelers fan who’s been convinced the outcomes of NFL games are predetermined since the 2017 Super Bowl – you know, the one where long-time have-nots the Atlanta Falcons mysteriously blew a 28-3 third quarter lead to the financial golden goose that the New England Patriots have become – but had started to smell a rat quite a while before that. I mean, isn’t it a bit odd that league poster-boys Ray Lewis, Peyton Manning, John Elway and Jerome Bettis all mysteriously won championships in their final game, with Bettis even doing so in his hometown in what is widely considered one of the worst officiated games in NFL History? Isn’t it a little convenient that, the year after a poll voted the 2008 New York Vs New England Super Bowl the greatest of all time, the 2011 finale ended with those same two teams, producing the exact same result in a game that was itself almost a play-by-play reproduction of its predecessor? I could go on, but I’m sure you get the idea.
Sadly, this book just does not live up to expectations, or even basic publishing standards. I want to start by saying I read it on a Kindle, and stopped reporting the obvious transcription errors about 10% of the way through, because I was spending more time reporting than reading. I’d like to think this is just an issue with scanning software, but it genuinely damaged the experience for me.
The next issue for me is the inaccurate reporting, and general bias towards sensationalism. I’m going to share a few examples of what I mean, all of which relate to the NFL as, of the five sports examined, it’s the one I’m most knowledgeable about.
1) “Just prior to his rookie year in 2000, Jamal Lewis of the Cleveland Browns used a cell phone to set up a drug deal”
Lewis was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2000, and played for them until 2007. He won the Super Bowl with them in 2001, the Offensive Player of the Year award and the league’s rushing yards title in 2003. He then transferred to the Cleveland Browns where he had two solid, but unremarkable seasons and a third cut short by injury, after which he retired. What I’m getting at here is that, presenting him as being “of the Cleveland Browns” does not tally with how most people would think of him. It’s not technically inaccurate as he did play for them, but it leaves out a lot of and is very sloppy writing.
Additionally, the facts of this are debatable. In his excellent book “Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today’s NFL” John Feinstein is given access to sit-in on everything the Ravens did for an entire year, which happened to be the year Lewis was prosecuted for the aforementioned drug deal. Feinstein, having behind-the-scenes access to then team president Dick Caas, who oversaw handling of the prosecution from the team’s perspective, explains out that Lewis was the victim of a sting operation designed to borderline entrap famous young people, particularly athletes, and that Lewis’ involvement was little more than allowing an attractive woman to use his phone while she was trying to seduce him. As is often the case, the truth probably fits somewhere in between the two accounts, but when you have a Steelers fan defending a rat-birds player, there’s something very wrong!
2) “Denver Broncos star wide receiver Brandon Marshall was arrested on three separate occasions in the year between March 2007 and 2008. His three-game suspension for violating the leagues personal conduct policy was lowered to just one game.
Again, while technically correct, in his desire to paint NFL players as lawless thugs who get away with anything because of their status Tuohy ignores the wider context – Marshall was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder in 2011, has been receiving treatment for since then and since understanding his condition has become a mental health charity advocate. Oh, and one of the arrests was for making an illegal lane-change while driving very slightly over the limit, hardly something that requires a SWAT team!
3) “Other teams, such as the 1980s Oakland Raiders, the 1990s Buffalo Bills and the 2000s Philadelphia Eagles could also be labelled as dynasty teams. Though these teams failed to win Super Bowl after Super Bowl, each had great success over a four-to-six year period of time, much like their dynasty counterparts.”
Crikey! Where to even start with this one… Okay, the Raiders played in two Super Bowls during the 1980’s, winning both, so pretty much everything about them in this statement is simply wrong.
Secondly, the 2000s Eagles failed to win 10 successive Super Bowls between 2000 and 2010, but the problem is they only played in one Super Bowl during that period. By that logic, you could say that every team in the NFL bar the Patriots (who won three in a four year period during that time) and the Steelers (who on two in a four year period during that time). Linking to the Bills four Super Bowl losses in a row feels as though Tuohy is trying to suggest the Eagles reached several Super Bowls only to fall at the last hurdle. When they only even made it to that hurdle once.
I could keep going with the examples, but I hope you see what I’m saying here: The subject matter is genuinely interesting, but the way the evidence is presented feels like the book equivalent of a lawyer asking “Have you had an accident or a fall at work that wasn’t your fault? Call us for a no-win / no-fee consultation!” It cheapens something which, if addressed correctly, could have been great.
September 6, 2024
At points fun to read with some decent bits of history that were fun to learn/be reminded of. However, like any suggestion of grand conspiracy, it falls victim to drawing connections where they don’t exist and presuming mere suggestion qualifies as evidence.
There are a multitude of times where results that don’t fit the narrative of the fix are waived away often with incredibly weak suggestions as to the reason.
It even contains a number of spelling and grammatical errors at points to further damage the credibility of the book.
There are a multitude of times where results that don’t fit the narrative of the fix are waived away often with incredibly weak suggestions as to the reason.
It even contains a number of spelling and grammatical errors at points to further damage the credibility of the book.
May 31, 2018
Maybe I'm more naive than I think, or the scandalous events he actually provides evidence for are already baked into my sports consciousness, or his speculation about every fucking Super Bowl being rigged is absurd. It's probably all three.
November 11, 2019
He makes good points but at times makes the mistake of acting like he knows what went on. He is only guessing and doesn't really know. However I am well aware that arena sports are big money and it's not a shock to me that parts of it are scripted and staged.
February 22, 2019
Enlightenment
May 11, 2019
No
Do not buy this book. It sucks! It's not a good book and is poorly written. I was disappointed. Yuk
Do not buy this book. It sucks! It's not a good book and is poorly written. I was disappointed. Yuk
July 3, 2019
The author, Brian Tuohy does a great job using actual data to show the cast of all sports are dubious, the media as its watchdog is impotent and certain outcomes lead to better (bettor?) paydays for the sport. He also states not all games are fixed just some important ones. He makes the case that for marketing purposes, it makes sense to have series go to more games so sweeps will become more uncommon.
He spends most of the early book going through arrests and gambling charges of players, refs and owners. After showcasing the ineffective media, why gambling is involved and how TV contracts are pushing the teams to highest paydays ever, he examines certain games to show how they were probably manipulated.
Here is an example of my own experiences using the author’s type of arguments. I bought this book as soon as the Eagles won the NFC Championship (I didn’t get it until after the Super Bowl). I bleed green for my team. I wanted a positive outcome in the Super Bowl. So I wanted to know how the Patriots were going to cheat this time. I remember the Eagles first 2 trips. The Monday after their first trip to the Super Bowl in 1980, a friend of my father told me, while in a bar on Saturday, he met a gambler on his way to AC who proclaimed an Oakland win on Sunday, asserting it was already decided. My father’s friend was not a sports enthusiast and that meeting confirmed for him that sports are rigged and not worth watching. The Philadelphia franchise on their second trip met the NE Patriots. This book clearly shows the improper intimate relationship of the Patriots with the NFL management.
But in 2017, Philadelphia hosted the NFL draft. It was a very positive experience. And the NFL management saw Eagle’s fans as more than our notorious, Santa-Abusing hooliganism reputation. Then as NBC confirmed before the game, Jeff Lurie, the Eagles owner, gave a very impassioned speech in an owner’s meeting in the early part of the season regarding player’s taking a knee during the anthem. The NFL was facing criticism from the President and some people were calling for a boycott of the games. Lurie’s speech helped the owners and the NFL to decide how they were going to handle this issue. Finally in the last month of the season and the loss of Carson Wentz, the Eagles started beating their chests screaming "Under-dog" as most of the country thought Philly was done. The team played as under-dogs the remaining games, including all their playoff games (despite being ranked #1 in the NFC). So the Eagles being from Philly, were immediately given a Rocky type of story. Even a popular YouTube video showed the Rocky 4 trailer with Nick Foles' head on Rocky and Tom Brady’s on Drago. Another meme I spotted expressed the country’s exasperation with the Patriots making it to yet another SB. ESPN had even cited unrest among the owner, the coach and the quarterback. The Pats denied this stating ESPN was just trying to sell their drivel (if they thought that would sell, shows USA’s annoyance with them). My Eagle’s won with no one in this market breathing until a passed football hit the turf with no time left on the clock.
Since the game, some analyst’s state the play in which Nick Foles caught the touchdown pass was from an illegal formation. The NFL disputes their claim. The Eagles defense had their worst game of the season. The Patriots were not able to capitalize with any offense except to Gronkowski, who is currently mulling retirement (having an incredible performance would be a terrific out for this future Hall-Of-Famer). But the Eagles breaking their Super Bowl curse, the underdogs beating the hated champions, sure makes quite a story, sounds like a perfect addition to this book. But none of this is solid proof anything was underhanded.
Personally, I will believe it was plucky courage that our troops rallied to defeat the greater foe and that is what keeps my heart bumping Kelly green blood. And my reaction is probably why Sport’s Organizations will continue to cheat.
Finally the book, like my above example, doesn’t give me any clear cut evidence. I was familiar with most of the stories, and there are many stories, with the exception of some of Paul Hornung’s admissions. That guy didn’t know when to shut up. I am certain (and was convinced before I read this), that Super Bowl 3 (& probably 4) were fixed. The combining of the NFL & AFL and that union’s success absolutely hinged on a Jets win. The book went through all the facts. Laid them out well and showed why manipulations occur. It also belabors the point that scripting an outcome isn’t illegal. Sporting events are just entertainment.
I was hoping for some tips on how to spot and bet on some of these games, but this book only deals in history, not on how to capitalize on it.
He spends most of the early book going through arrests and gambling charges of players, refs and owners. After showcasing the ineffective media, why gambling is involved and how TV contracts are pushing the teams to highest paydays ever, he examines certain games to show how they were probably manipulated.
Here is an example of my own experiences using the author’s type of arguments. I bought this book as soon as the Eagles won the NFC Championship (I didn’t get it until after the Super Bowl). I bleed green for my team. I wanted a positive outcome in the Super Bowl. So I wanted to know how the Patriots were going to cheat this time. I remember the Eagles first 2 trips. The Monday after their first trip to the Super Bowl in 1980, a friend of my father told me, while in a bar on Saturday, he met a gambler on his way to AC who proclaimed an Oakland win on Sunday, asserting it was already decided. My father’s friend was not a sports enthusiast and that meeting confirmed for him that sports are rigged and not worth watching. The Philadelphia franchise on their second trip met the NE Patriots. This book clearly shows the improper intimate relationship of the Patriots with the NFL management.
But in 2017, Philadelphia hosted the NFL draft. It was a very positive experience. And the NFL management saw Eagle’s fans as more than our notorious, Santa-Abusing hooliganism reputation. Then as NBC confirmed before the game, Jeff Lurie, the Eagles owner, gave a very impassioned speech in an owner’s meeting in the early part of the season regarding player’s taking a knee during the anthem. The NFL was facing criticism from the President and some people were calling for a boycott of the games. Lurie’s speech helped the owners and the NFL to decide how they were going to handle this issue. Finally in the last month of the season and the loss of Carson Wentz, the Eagles started beating their chests screaming "Under-dog" as most of the country thought Philly was done. The team played as under-dogs the remaining games, including all their playoff games (despite being ranked #1 in the NFC). So the Eagles being from Philly, were immediately given a Rocky type of story. Even a popular YouTube video showed the Rocky 4 trailer with Nick Foles' head on Rocky and Tom Brady’s on Drago. Another meme I spotted expressed the country’s exasperation with the Patriots making it to yet another SB. ESPN had even cited unrest among the owner, the coach and the quarterback. The Pats denied this stating ESPN was just trying to sell their drivel (if they thought that would sell, shows USA’s annoyance with them). My Eagle’s won with no one in this market breathing until a passed football hit the turf with no time left on the clock.
Since the game, some analyst’s state the play in which Nick Foles caught the touchdown pass was from an illegal formation. The NFL disputes their claim. The Eagles defense had their worst game of the season. The Patriots were not able to capitalize with any offense except to Gronkowski, who is currently mulling retirement (having an incredible performance would be a terrific out for this future Hall-Of-Famer). But the Eagles breaking their Super Bowl curse, the underdogs beating the hated champions, sure makes quite a story, sounds like a perfect addition to this book. But none of this is solid proof anything was underhanded.
Personally, I will believe it was plucky courage that our troops rallied to defeat the greater foe and that is what keeps my heart bumping Kelly green blood. And my reaction is probably why Sport’s Organizations will continue to cheat.
Finally the book, like my above example, doesn’t give me any clear cut evidence. I was familiar with most of the stories, and there are many stories, with the exception of some of Paul Hornung’s admissions. That guy didn’t know when to shut up. I am certain (and was convinced before I read this), that Super Bowl 3 (& probably 4) were fixed. The combining of the NFL & AFL and that union’s success absolutely hinged on a Jets win. The book went through all the facts. Laid them out well and showed why manipulations occur. It also belabors the point that scripting an outcome isn’t illegal. Sporting events are just entertainment.
I was hoping for some tips on how to spot and bet on some of these games, but this book only deals in history, not on how to capitalize on it.
April 9, 2025
Here are five main takeaways from The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR by Brian Tuohy, based on its central arguments and themes:
1. Professional Sports Are Driven by Profit, Not Fair Play: Tuohy argues that major sports leagues prioritize financial gain over genuine competition. He suggests that outcomes are influenced to maximize revenue from television deals, ticket sales, and sponsorships, rather than ensuring a level playing field.
2. Manipulation Is Widespread Across Leagues: The book contends that game-fixing and manipulation occur across the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR. Examples include biased officiating, questionable race decisions, and even steroid use in baseball to boost excitement and profits.
3. Media Complicity Obscures the Truth: Tuohy asserts that sports media, dependent on access to leagues and teams, often ignores or downplays evidence of corruption. This complicity helps maintain the illusion of integrity in professional sports.
4. Historical Examples Support the Theory: He provides specific instances, like the New England Patriots’ 2002 Super Bowl win being influenced by post-9/11 patriotism or Jeff Gordon’s 2004 NASCAR victory tied to sponsor interests, to illustrate how results align suspiciously with league or corporate agendas.
5. Lack of Hard Evidence Fuels Debate: While Tuohy builds a persuasive case with anecdotes and circumstantial evidence, he acknowledges the absence of definitive proof. This gap allows skeptics to dismiss his claims as conspiracy, but he argues it reflects the sophistication of the cover-ups.
These takeaways encapsulate Tuohy’s view of professional sports as a "showbiz operation" where entertainment value and revenue often trump competitive purity.
1. Professional Sports Are Driven by Profit, Not Fair Play: Tuohy argues that major sports leagues prioritize financial gain over genuine competition. He suggests that outcomes are influenced to maximize revenue from television deals, ticket sales, and sponsorships, rather than ensuring a level playing field.
2. Manipulation Is Widespread Across Leagues: The book contends that game-fixing and manipulation occur across the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR. Examples include biased officiating, questionable race decisions, and even steroid use in baseball to boost excitement and profits.
3. Media Complicity Obscures the Truth: Tuohy asserts that sports media, dependent on access to leagues and teams, often ignores or downplays evidence of corruption. This complicity helps maintain the illusion of integrity in professional sports.
4. Historical Examples Support the Theory: He provides specific instances, like the New England Patriots’ 2002 Super Bowl win being influenced by post-9/11 patriotism or Jeff Gordon’s 2004 NASCAR victory tied to sponsor interests, to illustrate how results align suspiciously with league or corporate agendas.
5. Lack of Hard Evidence Fuels Debate: While Tuohy builds a persuasive case with anecdotes and circumstantial evidence, he acknowledges the absence of definitive proof. This gap allows skeptics to dismiss his claims as conspiracy, but he argues it reflects the sophistication of the cover-ups.
These takeaways encapsulate Tuohy’s view of professional sports as a "showbiz operation" where entertainment value and revenue often trump competitive purity.
February 16, 2017
Sports fans should be forever grateful and indebted to author Brian Tuohy for opening our eyes to this one simple fact - SPORTS ARE RIGGED. Brian's research efforts and creative writing skills are masterful and second to none.
Mr. Tuohy is a celebrity in his own right, and I'm confident Brian will one day be in the national spotlight for blowing the lid off all things sports by leaving no doubt once and for all that sports are nothing more than scripted entertainment for the masses.
Mr. Tuohy is a celebrity in his own right, and I'm confident Brian will one day be in the national spotlight for blowing the lid off all things sports by leaving no doubt once and for all that sports are nothing more than scripted entertainment for the masses.
August 27, 2011
This started out with some potential - and was even convincing. But by the last chapter, the author went though all the major sports leagues and pointed out tons of specific games - and his opinions of why and how they could have been completely fixed. What started as a good, well written book ended with something that really sounded like the paranoid ramblings of someone who is quite convinced that the whole sports world is nothing but a sham. I think the author overdoes it a bit in this book.
October 19, 2010
If you are 1) a fanatic sports fan who can think independently or 2) a casual fan who always felt "something's up" you should read this book. Not a "conspiracy theory" book but more a list of "here are the facts and what if" book. As we all know, "it's about the money" and "follow the money" are the only truisms in life. Sadly, we still WANT our heroes so not mush will change in big time sports.
November 28, 2012
Proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that professional sports (or, at least, key competitions)are rigged is a near impossible task. However, Tuohy makes an extremely compelling case based on known facts, psychology and, more importantly, economics. When you consider the BILLIONS of dollars involved in TV deals for the NFL alone, and understand the way corporate juggernauts work you are left asking the question "Why WOULDN'T they manipulate the outcomes of key games?".
October 14, 2019
This book may ruin sports for you. It's hard to believe that pro sports are still pure and played with integrity when the leagues running them are able to exert so much control and influence over the games.
Many inconsistencies are highlighted here in this interesting read.
Many inconsistencies are highlighted here in this interesting read.
July 5, 2016
A silly book that seems to confuse criminality with conspiracy. If only every losing team had that excuse.
October 15, 2016
Thought provoking, for sure.
September 3, 2013
Fantastic couldnt put it down didnt want to
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