Tuning Into America’s Game: How Television Made Football America’s Most Popular Sport

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the relationship between Television and the NFL throughout the 1960’s. Prior to the 1960’s, the MLB was the most popular professional sports league in America. However, amid this decade, the NFL took its place as America’s top spectator sport. Through analyzing various newspaper articles and data from this time period, it becomes clear that Television played a major role in this shift, with the defining factor revolving around league leadership. Professional sports league executives during and prior to the 1960s feared TV would hinder the progression and overall success of their respective sport. However, unlike his predecessors and fellow pro sport commissioners, 1960-1989 NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle saw TV as a vehicle for the NFLs long term success. Through having proper beliefs, traits and skills, Rozelle grew able to execute the marriage between Television and the NFL. This thesis argues that the implementation of TV served as essential in growing the NFLs overall popularity and revenue, which could not have been accomplished without Pete Rozelle’s vision, skills, and traits.