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If you are a collector of old broadcasts of certain sports events like me, certain broadcasts have been lost. That means that there has been a long search for these original broadcasts. There are certain original broadcasts that simply have been lost. Yes, that's right: whole broadcasts of historical events have gone missing, because a common practice decades ago - particularly the 1950's and 1960's, when videotape was not cheap, and so they were reused almost as soon as the original broadcast was aired - meant that the original broadcasts have gone missing.
This was the case with the original Apollo 11 tapes. It is also the case with certain World Cup Finals, including the 1954 Final, as well as the 1966 Final (when England won). And it is the case with the first two Super Bowl games. Somehow, nobody seemed to believe that these games might have real historical value some day in the future. And so for a very long time, these broadcasts were believed to have been lost. To have simply disappeared into thin air.
However, some of these original broadcasts did show up. An original broadcast of England beating West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final did pop up eventually. And so, apparently, have the original broadcasts of both Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II. Super Bowl II was long believed to have been the only Super Bowl where no single snippet from the original broadcast existed. Then, it was apparently discovered in the vaults of the NFL.
But the "Holy Grail" of Super Bowl tapes would be the original broadcast of Super Bowl I. That game has a bit of a strange history. It was the only Super Bowl to be aired by not one, but two broadcasts, both CBS and NBC (you would think that one of them would have survived). Also, it was the only Super Bowl that did not sell out, and both pictures and footage confirms just how many empty seats there were on that day. Hard to imagine now, but there you have it.
Some years ago, I believe it was ESPN who claimed that they would air the "lost" Super Bowl I video. For some people like me, it seemed too good to be true! Would they - could they even - actually air the original broadcast of the game? Unfortunately, it wound up being a scam. If memory serves correctly, they showed a few well-known highlight clips, and then basically had some experts who sat behind a desk and analyzed it, talking about the history and so forth. Nothing remotely truly like the original broadcast of the first Super Bowl, as they has seemed to suggest it would be. It may even have been interesting, but I could not tell, so disappointed were my feelings about it, since it felt like false advertising, and hyping up a historical broadcast that was, in fact, nothing of the sort that they implied.
Earlier today, I happened to watch a video (attached below) where one fan who was particularly persistent actually managed to track down what is apparently the only existing (and also apparently incomplete) original broadcast of Super Bowl I. He tells some stories about it, and his experiences of finally getting the chance to view the fil, which now exists at the Paley Center for Media in New York City.
Apparently, there was a public viewing - a one-time only and done kind of a deal - where the broadcast could be viewed by the public. Of course, I learned about it only well after the fact (earlier today, as a matter of fact, after watching the aforementioned video). It annoys me to have found out about it only well after the fact, and just by a few weeks.
Annoying as it is, at least it exists. That provides hope for fans of such historical broadcasts like this that maybe, someday, it might be able to be viewed.
Meanwhile, it seemed like this particular blog entry may be of interest to some. It includes links to several articles and such, including that video which I watched earlier, about the story behind the missing broadcast of Super Bowl I. Maybe someday, more than just a very few handful of people will actually get to see this broadcast.
Below are the links I used in writing this particular blog entry. The first is the invitation and ticket information for the one-time only viewing of the original Super Bowl I broadcast at the Paley Center for Media in New York City. The others are links to articles about the original broadcast tapes. Enjoy:
PALEYSCREENING: The “Holy Grail” of Football: The Rare Super Bowl I Broadcast
Saturday, February 10, 2024 12:10 pm — One Screening Only! Doors open at 11:30 am
https://www.paleycenter.org/events/2024-paleyscreening-first-super-bowl/
The Mystery of the Super Bowl I tapes Published by NFL, Jan 13, 2016:
https://www.nfl.com/news/the-mystery-of-the-super-bowl-i-tapes-0ap3000000622357
Unearthed Super Bowl I broadcast a three-hour slice of long-lost Americana By Social Links forMike Vaccaro Published Feb. 8, 2024,
https://nypost.com/2024/02/08/sports/long-lost-super-bowl-i-broadcast-a-slice-of-americana/
Five things you may learn from those who have actually seen the first Super Bowl broadcast JR Radcliffe Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 15, 2024:
https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2024/02/15/the-super-bowl-i-broadcast-is-so-rare-only-a-handful-have-seen-it/72614068007/
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