Exactly, because the NFL is turning into something that fans don’t believe. That’s what happened to boxing, fans could no longer believe what they were seeing.
With sports, when you stop believing what you’re seeing, when you stop trusting it or don’t think it’s real, you lose interest. It’s too frustrating. Games are being decided by stuff that literally isn’t happening. Not occasionally, which is unavoidable because humans aren’t perfect, but every week. Constantly.
We can’t even wrap our heads around the reason, because it’s not always about safety first or ratings or anything specific. It doesn’t make any sense. The referees just fuck up all the time. That’s the only thing you can count on.