1939: NBC Presents the First Televised Pro Football Game
On this day in 1939, NBC presented the first televised professional football game, a match-up between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The game took place at the Dodgers' home field, Ebbets Field.
There were 13,050 fans in the stands. Another 500 or so were able to watch the game at home on NBC's experimental station, W2XBS. The game was simulcast at the World's Fair in New York, in the RCA Pavilion.
On the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, NBC's play-by-play Allen "Skip" Walz announcer offers a wonderful account of how he sat in the stands in the mezzanine section and pointed to where the action was happening, so the cameraman who was sitting behind him would know where to aim the camera.
The Dodgers won, 23-14.