Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509260099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It's about television. Side deals aside, it is the NFL's telecast plan - and the ratings and riches from it - that the league views as endangered by Jones' deals to sell apparel and soft drinks at Texas Stadium. You might say the NFL is trying to cut off the Cowboys at the pass, before Jones tries to out-Fox the NFL in more ways than one.
It was in 1962 that the NFL turned to socialism in selling its telecast rights. Fearing some clubs would become too rich for the rest of the league's good, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle - still new to the job - sold the club owners on pooling their TV rights.
One of the biggest howls came from George Preston Marshall, owner of the Washington Redskins. That was understandable. The Redskins were the first NFL team to televise games, starting only in Washington in 1950.
By 1954, the 'Skins TV network - sponsored by Amoco - spread from Baltimore to Jacksonville, fitting nicely in a vast radio network that traveled from Boston (the franchise's home prior to 1937) to Florida.
The Redskins' first Amoco network game televised into the South was 31 years ago this weekend, the 1954 season opener at San Francisco. Roanoke had only one TV station then (WSLS), and the Redskins weren't aired here, nor in Lynchburg (WLVA, now WSET), although the Hill City station joined the network for the next road game, against the Giants in Yankee Stadium on Oct.10.
That September date, however, was the NFL's TV debut in Roanoke, as WSLS aired the Baltimore Colts against the Los Angeles Rams. Some Roanoke viewers in the right location with strong antennas could pick up the Redskins' opener on Greensboro's WFMY in those pre-cable days, too.
By 1962, when CBS paid a then-stunning $28.2 million for two years of exclusive NFL telecast rights, the Colts had been earning the most annually from their own TV network, about $800,000. The Redskins were in the $600,000 range. The Cowboys were in only their third season. The key to the deal was the OK by Giants owner Wellington Mara, who stood to lose the most because he played in the New York market.
With $14.1 million per year in the first NFL TV contract, each team received $1 million and the league pocketed $100,000. My, how they've grown. What was a 14-team league has 30 clubs. The four-year contracts with five TV networks will pay the league $4.4 million (through 1997). This season, 28 clubs earn $37.2 million each, with expansion Carolina and Jacksonville each getting a half share.
The Redskins' Marshall needn't have worried, but he did. No other team invaded his southern TV territory until the Atlanta Falcons were born in 1966. The Redskins really were the South's team. In those days of segregation, Marshall was the last NFL owner to integrate his club. It finally happened in 1962, with Bobby Mitchell and three other players, but only after Marshall was pressured by Congress - which had approved D.C. Stadium, opened in 1961 - and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Redskins didn't lose a significant slice of their TV domain until this season, when the Panthers took away the Carolinas. Marshall, prior to 1962, had no interest in dividing his domain with anyone.
Now, the notion is different. The NFL wants its clubs to remain separate, but equal. The NFL has built in television what baseball, hockey and even the NBA would love to enjoy. It's no time for Jerry-mandering. This is one Rozelle Rule that has worked.
TRUCK STOP: Ernie Irvan's return today to NASCAR won't be aired on live TV, but ESPN2 will carry a tape of the Goody's 150 SuperTruck race at Martinsville Speedway at 10 tonight. ESPN has live coverage of the Goody's 500 Winston Cup race Sunday from the .526-mile oval at 12:30 p.m.
COUGAR BUCKS: Pulaski County again is selling its own football radio package, an unusual move for a high school, but one that is reflected in the rabid Cougar following. Last year, the school sold $12,000 in advertising in the regular-season, said athletic director Ron Kanipe. Pulaski County purchased air time from WRIQ-FM and installed broadcast phone lines, and still made a $4,000 profit.
Kanipe said PCHS is selling ads for $100 per game this season, and although the school didn't have as many season sales, he expects a similar profit because of political advertising buys on a week-to-week basis.
ICEMEN: The introduction of a new round of the baseball playoffs is Oct.3, which means it's also time for the NHL season to open. ESPN begins its 26-game regular-season schedule on Friday, Oct.6, when Detroit visits Colorado in the Avalanche's first game since moving from Quebec.
ESPN2 will be the primary NHL telecast carrier, however, with 78 regular-season dates. The debut on ``the Deuce'' is Oct.7, when Toronto visits Pittsburgh for the return of Mario Lemieux. Regionally, Home Team Sports will air 30 Washington Capitals' games, most of those on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights.
ACES WILD: ESPN has received 19 nominations for the annual CableACE awards, to be presented in December. Chris Berman will be seeking his fourth ACE in the sports host category, where the competition includes SportsCenter anchors Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick. In the commentator/analyst category, ESPN has Dick Vitale, Peter Gammons and Dick Schaap on the ballot, while NFL voice Mike Patrick was nominated in play-by-play.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB