For those saying the Superbowl is rigged

The notion that the league has rigged this year's Super Bowl to ensure a Kansas City-Green Bay game doesn't--to put it charitably--make any sense.

Prefatorily, as noted above, few care from a historical standpoint whether Kansas City and Green Bay play in this year's Super Bowl. (The notable exception is State Farm.)

But a conspiracy by the NFL? The collective market value of the 32 NFL teams is perhaps 65 to 100 billion dollars. Were it disclosed that the league rigged a Super Bowl contest, the business model of the league would be devastated, reducing by certainly 50 percent, if not 75 or 80 percent, the collective market value of the teams. Plus, people who are quite financially comfortable would go to prison. The risks are substantial. And the rewards? For the league, they really don't exist.

I can accept that people are greedy, and do stupid and even criminal things. We do have the college-admissions scandal as evidence. But when one considers the risks and the rewards of a conspiracy to ensure that two particular teams play in the Super Bowl--or that a particular team does not play--a conspiracy makes no sense. Further, a conspiracy by definition means more than one person--and here a number of people--are involved. The more people involved, the more difficult it is to conceal the crime.

PS Now State Farm, or its advertising firm, is a different matter. I am joking. Kind of.