From CSWiki
Whenever there is a betting event, there is the risk of manipulation. Probably the oldest and best know is the "fix" in sporting events. A "market" for bets on a sporting event is established. The odds reflect the likelihood of various outcomes—in a fair contest. But because betters like to win, they sometimes pay the sporting event participants to make the outcome different from what it would be if the contest were held normally. In other words, the existence of the betting market produces effects that would not otherwise have occurred. See Wikipedia's
Match fixing, which also notes that
even if there are no gamblers involved, sometimes a team may deliberately lose to gain some perceived future advantage. For example, in the NHL and NBA, teams near the bottom of the standings have sometimes been accused of throwing games at the end of the season to finish with the worst record in the league—thereby gaining the first draft pick.
