Do NFL referees favor Chiefs? What college study shows about officiating during Patrick Mahomes era in Kansas City

Just as the Kansas City Chiefs have been one of the NFL's most successful franchises over the past decade, they've also been one of the most polarizing.

Kansas City's Super Bowl wins and AFC dominance have been met with cheers from its fan base and disdain from those on the outside. And while detractors have long claimed that the Chiefs have benefited from preferential officiating, they now may have factual evidence to back the claim.

In August 2025, the University of Texas at El Paso published a study analyzing over 13,000 penalty calls from 2015 to 2023. The findings, which were broken down in October, show how financial pressure may influence rule enforcement.

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Here is what those findings say about the Chiefs.

MORE: Why Chiefs' officiating narrative may not apply in 2025

Do NFL referees favor Chiefs?

NFL referees do favor the Chiefs, according to raw numbers in the study.

The findings showed that judges' and referees' calls favored the Chiefs from 2015 to 2023. There are more factors at play, but researchers used postseason officiating for their research.

According to that research, "postseason officiating has disproportionately favored the Patrick Mahomes-era Kansas City Chiefs."

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How college study shows Chiefs favoritism in NFL

Spencer Barnes, Ph.D, is the assistant professor of finance in the UTEP Woody L. Hunt College of Business who conducted the study.

The study illustrates how the Chiefs benefit from favorable officiating, citing the franchise's profitability since Mahomes became the starting quarterback. As such, officials are more likely to make subjective calls that favor Kansas City.

Here is more from UTEP:

The study shows that during the playoffs, which the research team identified as the NFL’s most commercially valuable period, penalties against opposing defenses of the Chiefs’ offense were significantly more likely to result in first downs, cover more yardage and fall into subjective categories such as roughing the passer or pass interference

Dr. Barnes used numbers showing the league experienced a sharp decline in TV viewership and ratings from 2015-17, a time in which player protests and political conversations impacted many fans' attitudes toward the league.

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Mahomes, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, became a full-time starter ahead of the 2018 season. He was league MVP and Offensive Player of the Year during his first year as a full-time starter and in his second year, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a win in Super Bowl 54.

In seven full seasons with Mahomes starting, the Chiefs have won five AFC Championships and three Super Bowls. Here is a breakdown of postseason penalties for and against Kansas City during its run with Mahomes as its starter.

Penalty data can be found here.

Notably, the Chiefs are plus 220 penalty yards during their three Super Bowl runs. Those numbers align with the type of penalties that result in first downs benefiting the Chiefs more than their opponents.