6 times ‘The Simpsons’ perfectly predicted events in the world of sports

Is it coincidence, or a crystal ball?

When you’re on TV for as long as The Simpsons have been you’re bound to stumble across some things that mirror real life. That said, the show’s penchant for predicting world events has been staggering.

How many things have been predicted, really?

Before we get to the world of sports it’s important to appreciate the broader world events the show has gotten right. The most notable was the Trump presidency, which the show called back in 2000.

While this was the moment where people really started paying attention, links between the show and real life were made far beyond that. A 2013 Buzzfeed article noted numerous times the show was spot on when it came to worldwide events, which included faulty voting machines changing peoples’ votes, Siegfried & Roy’s tiger turning on the duo, yard work becoming a video game, the Apple Watch and more.

More examples were found in the time since that 2013 article, including the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle, and terrifyingly the NSA spying scandal — which was depicted in The Simpsons Movie.

But what about the world of sports?

While The Simpsons haven’t had that many sports episodes in the show’s history, there are stunning examples of times the show accurately predicting the outcomes of events or scandals.

The Super Bowl

The first examples come from 1992, during the episode Lisa the Greek. The climax of the show comes when the Buffalo Bills lose the Super Bowl, meaning Lisa is willing to still have a relationship with Homer.

The it happened again ...

The next year FOX decided to re-air the episode, but to keep it fresh they had the actors re-record the lines. Dallas was picked over Buffalo, and it happened again.

And again ...

The year after that Lisa the Greek was once again shows on Super Bowl Sunday, and once again the episode was re-dubbed. Dallas was picked once again, and beat Buffalo — who lost in the Super Bowl for the third time in a row.

The FIFA corruption scandal.

While it didn’t take this one long to come true, in 2014 the show poked fun at widespread corruption inside FIFA that would bring down the organization’s leadership.

One year later FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepped down during widespread charges that shook up the organization.

Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime show.

In a 2012 episode The Simpsons had Lady Gaga perform in a silver outfit, suspended by wires and flying over an adoring crowd. Five years later it happened at the Super Bowl during her memorable halftime show.

USA Curling’s Gold Medal.

The most recent addition to the legend comes from the 2010 episode Boy Meets Curl, in which Homer and Marge teamed up to win USA’s first gold medal in the sport. The show even predicted that the U.S. would beat Sweden for the medal, to make matters even more spooky.

Prescience? Probably not. Incredible coincidence? Maybe. It’s up to you to decide, but there’s no denying that The Simpsons has an unnatural history of being right about world events. In sports, and beyond.