🏈 A Field, a Broadcast, and the Birth of Pro Football on TV

Image Credit: Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers Collection. Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Acacia Card Company, c. 1930–1945)

Today, October 22, marks a quiet but monumental anniversary: exactly 86 years ago, the first televised professional football game took place — and under the gaze of roughly 1,000 television sets in the New York area, the future of sports broadcasting was born.

Setting the Scene

It was 2:30 p.m. at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York, a place already famous for its baseball legends — but on this day, it was all about football. In 1939, Brooklyn actually had two professional “Dodgers” teams: one in Major League Baseball and one in the National Football League. Both played at Ebbets Field and even shared the same name and colors. The football Dodgers were founded in 1930 and carried the name until 1943, when the team folded during World War II and was briefly renamed the Brooklyn Tigers before disappearing from the league altogether.

That fall afternoon, the Brooklyn Dodgers football team hosted the Philadelphia Eagles in a regular-season matchup that would make history as the first professional football game ever broadcast on TV.

The network decided to take a chance on this new medium and see if the fast-paced game could translate to the small screen. The announcer that day was Allen “Skip” Walz, a former boxer turned sports broadcaster, who called the game from the mezzanine without a monitor. He pointed out the plays to the cameraman beside him, guiding every shot by hand.

By game’s end, a modest crowd of about 13,000 fans filled Ebbets Field. The final score: Brooklyn Dodgers 23, Philadelphia Eagles 14. As the sun dipped behind the stands, the picture dimmed — early cameras weren’t very light-sensitive — and parts of the broadcast had to switch back to radio. It was imperfect, but it worked.

A Moment at the Stadium

Ebbets Field wasn’t just any arena. Built in 1913 in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood, it had long been home to baseball legends, but that day it became the birthplace of televised pro football. Outside the gates, bulky television trucks hummed beside the curb while curious fans filed in, unaware they were witnessing history.

Two iconoscope cameras captured the action — one stationed near the 40-yard line and one up in the mezzanine. The entire broadcast crew consisted of only eight people. Compare that to today, when a single NFL game might involve over 100 crew members and more than 20 cameras, including drones, sideline cams, sky cams, and high-speed replays.

Fans back then probably didn’t realize how groundbreaking it all was. Walz later said, “I’d sit with my chin on the rail in the mezzanine, and the camera was over my shoulder… when the play moved up and down the field, I’d point to tell the cameraman what I’d be talking about.” Simple, direct, and human — and it worked.

How We Got Here

Televising a pro football game in 1939 was a bold move. Most Americans didn’t even own a TV. But the network saw football’s energy as perfect for this new form of “radio with pictures.” That day’s broadcast reached only about 1,000 television sets in the New York area. There were no commercials, no replays, and no fancy graphics — just the game, the crowd, and the hum of the camera.

When the sun fell behind the stadium wall, the screen went dark and the broadcast had to revert entirely to radio. Still, that blend of sight and sound planted the seed for what would become one of America’s favorite rituals.

Fast-forward to today: tens of millions tune in every week. The NFL’s modern TV deals are worth billions, and the technology behind the broadcasts feels closer to movie production than sports. From 4K and streaming to global feeds and mobile apps, we’ve come a long way from Walz’s pointing finger and those two buzzing iconoscopes.

The Sideline Camera Legacy

One detail worth celebrating: that first 1939 broadcast used what was essentially a sideline camera — a single lens positioned near field level so viewers could follow the action clearly. It turned out to be a perfect angle. That same sideline view became the standard for NFL broadcasts for nearly eight decades, lasting all the way to around 2017, when aerial drones and sky cams finally took over.

In other words, they got it right the first time.

A Few Unique Details Worth Mentioning

• Many players didn’t even know the game was being televised.

• When sunlight faded, the crew had to switch to radio audio because the cameras couldn’t capture enough light.

• The game ran 2 hours, 33 minutes, and 10 seconds, with no commercials at all.

• Ebbets Field wasn’t new to broadcasting history — the first televised professional baseball game had aired there just two months earlier, in August 1939.

• The stadium itself was used for everything from football and baseball to boxing and even weddings — a true New York landmark of its time.

Bringing Us Back to Today

So, picture it: October 22, 1939. The smell of fresh turf in the cool air, the crowd in wool coats and hats, the hum of strange new equipment outside, one camera tracking every play, and Allen Walz narrating the action for an audience of about a thousand television owners.

That single broadcast connected the field to the living room — the first spark in what would become a cultural phenomenon. Eighty-six years later, the network’s experiment still echoes through every Sunday game, every primetime kickoff, and every fan cheering from home.

Closing Thought

From one sideline camera and one announcer to dozens of lenses, instant replays, and global streaming, the journey from Ebbets Field to today’s stadiums tells a story of progress, passion, and connection.

So today, we look back with gratitude — to the field, the broadcast, and that small crew in 1939 who unknowingly changed the way America watches, cheers, and comes together every fall.

This early 1920s photograph captures fans gathering outside Ebbets Field almost two decades before television arrived — the same beloved Brooklyn landmark that, by 1939, would host a moment that forever changed American sports: the first televised professional football game. Image Credit: Bain News Service / Library of Congress. Fans outside Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York (circa 1920). Public domain.