NFL Century: The One-Hundred-Year Rise of America's Greatest Sports League by Joe Horrigan

Author:Joe Horrigan [Horrigan, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Non-Fiction, History, Sports, United States
ISBN: 9781635653601
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2019-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE CONTINUED to prosper during the 1970s as pro football solidified its place as America’s most popular sport. The merger between the American and National Football Leagues and the resulting realignment of franchises were accepted more quickly and enthusiastically by the public than almost anyone had expected.

Pete Rozelle told club owners at their spring meeting in 1971 that the previous year had been the best in league history. More people watched or attended NFL games than ever before.

Although Rozelle didn’t flaunt it, a significant part of that success was attributable to a new television deal he negotiated with ABC.

Rozelle had long desired to have the NFL on all three major television networks on prime time. As early as 1964, he had considered a proposal from ABC president Tom Moore to schedule some NFL games on Friday nights. But that idea fizzled when Rozelle and Moore were reminded that in much of America (though maybe not Manhattan), Friday night belonged to high school football. Not only would the public be outraged, but Rozelle risked damaging his antitrust lobbying efforts in Congress.

With Fridays eliminated and no network interest in disrupting their Saturday evening entertainment schedule, Rozelle asked, “What about Mondays?”

ABC wasn’t interested. Ben Casey—the network’s popular medical drama—was moving to Monday nights, starting with the upcoming fall season.

Rozelle remained convinced that Monday night football was a good idea. In 1966 he convinced a reluctant CBS to experiment with broadcasting four Monday night games. The gambit worked. Ratings were strong enough that Rozelle felt he had enough ammo to continue his pursuit.

NBC took a one-game shot at the Monday night option in 1968. But when the game ran long and delayed the start of The Tonight Show, the network—not wanting to antagonize Johnny Carson, their most popular star—withdrew from further prime-time football discussions.

Rozelle immediately gave ABC another shot. He already had the enthusiastic support of Roone Arledge, the network’s highly respected and innovative sports producer, who had just been named president of ABC Sports. Arledge and Rozelle had been quietly discussing the possibility for some time. But when ABC president Tom Moore was replaced by Elton Rule, Arledge was told the network thought the risk was not worth taking.

The prospect of prime-time football appeared dimmer than ever.

Rozelle had one more card to play. In October 1968, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell, chairman of the NFL’s television committee and a Rozelle ally, met with executives of the upstart Hughes Network. Taking advantage of the new network’s desire to establish themselves in the sports broadcasting business, Modell negotiated a $9 million offer from the Howard Hughes–owned network.

Armed with the argument that Hughes could sell the NFL package one station at a time to many independent ABC affiliates, the network relented. On May 26, 1969, the NFL accepted ABC’s offer of a three-year deal worth $8.5 million per year. The NFL thus became the first sports league with a regular series of national telecasts in prime time.

Although the offer

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