What Was the First Televised Sport?

A Columbia University baseball game holds the distinction of being the first televised sporting event. On May 17, 1939, NBC broadcast the second game of a doubleheader between Columbia and Princeton Universities from Baker Field in New York City. This marked the first time a regularly scheduled sporting event was aired on television. The game was a low-scoring affair, with Princeton winning 2-1 in extra innings.

The nascent technology of television was still in its infancy, with few households owning a set. Dealers were struggling to sell television sets to a public more interested in radios. However, World War II’s interruption notwithstanding, David Sarnoff, head of RCA, recognized the potential of televised baseball to drive television sales and attract advertising. This early broadcast of a college baseball game foreshadowed the significant role sports would play in the growth of the television industry.

The historical context of this first televised sporting event is noteworthy. The world was on the brink of war, with Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia and the Spanish Civil War’s conclusion raising global tensions. Meanwhile, in the United States, President Roosevelt’s potential third term and the New York World’s Fair captivated public attention. In the sports world, Lou Gehrig’s retirement due to a then-undisclosed illness shocked baseball fans.

The broadcast itself was a rudimentary affair. The single camera, positioned on a platform near home plate, provided a limited view of the game. While viewers could discern the players, the ball was often difficult to see. Despite these technical limitations, NBC deemed the $3,000 experiment a success. Just three months later, they broadcast the first Major League Baseball game, a doubleheader between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds at Ebbets Field.

Columbia University’s connection to the dawn of televised sports extends beyond hosting the first broadcast. Alumni like Roone Arledge, Lou Kusserow, and Chet Forte went on to become prominent figures in sports broadcasting at NBC and ABC. Furthermore, NBC, a subsidiary of RCA, was headquartered in Rockefeller Center, built on land owned by Columbia University.

This inaugural broadcast of a college baseball game proved to be a pivotal moment in sports and media history. It laid the foundation for the multi-billion dollar sports television industry we know today, encompassing events like the Super Bowl, March Madness, and the Olympics. The grainy images of that first televised baseball game heralded a future where sports would become a dominant force in television programming.