9781422283042

Great Depression and World War II, pro football still was a decade behind the curve. In the 1950s, a patchwork of na- tional and local television outlets brought the pro game to American homes, most- ly in plain black and white. One network,

Early NFL history

Dumont, entered the fray as a major player early in the decade, then went out of business well be- fore the 1960s. In December of 1958 came the watershed event: NBC-TV’s nationwide telecast of the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants, with its riveting sudden-death overtime finish. Its national and dramatic success announced professional football’s tremendous marketability. Six decades later, it has become the Big Bang of NFL media. Massive buzz generated by TV, radio, and print media provided the kindling. Advertising and market- ing executives soon exploited the NFL’s potential. That meant a spike in the value of television rights. The jump inpro football’spopularitybecameastrongsellingpoint for the American Football League, which began play

14