Sportscasting Firsts
1920 - Present

Sept. 6, 1920 - First Radio Broadcast of a Prizefight -Jack Dempsey vs. Billy Miske - WWJ

Nov. 25, 1920 - First Radio Play-by-Play Broadcast of a Collegiate Football Game - Texas University vs. Mechanical College of Texas - WTAW

Aug. 5, 1921 - First Radio Broadcast of a Baseball Game-Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies Harold Arlin on KDKA

Aug. 6, 1921 - First Radio Broadcast of a Tennis Match - Australia vs. Great Britian, Davis Cup - Harold Arlin on KDKA

Oct. 5, 1921 - First Radio Broadcast of a World Series- New York Yankees vs. New York Giants Sandy Hunt and Tommy Cowan on WJZ

Oct. 7, 1922 - First Radio Chain Broadcast- WJZ and WGY transmitted a World Series game from the field Grantland Rice and Graham McNamee

Nov. 24, 1923 - First Radio Broadcast of the Annual Army -Navy football game - Graham McNamee

Jan. 1, 1927 - First Coast-to-Coast Radio Program - Univ. of Alabama vs. Stanford - originating from Pasadena, Calif., broadcast from the Rose Bowl - NBC network

May 17, 1939 - First Televised Sports Event - Columbia vs. Princeton baseball - Bill Stern on NBC

Aug. 26, 1939 - First Television Broadcast of a Pro Baseball Game - Cincinnati Reds vs. Brooklyn Dodgers Red Barber on W2XBS

Oct. 22, 1939 - First Television Broadcast of a Pro Football Game-Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Eagles - W2XBS

Feb. 25, 1940 - First Television Broadcast of a Hockey Game-New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens -W2XBS

Feb.28, 1940 - First Televsion Broadcast of a Basketball Game -Fordham Univ. vs. Univ. of Pittsburgh W2XBS

Sept. 30, 1947 - First Televised World Series-New York Yankees vs.Brooklyn Dodgers - aired on three stations: WABD, WCBS, WNBT -Bob Edge, Bob Stanton and Bill Slater

Oct. 3, 1951 - First Coast-to-Coast Television Broadcast of a Baseball Game-NY Giants vs.Brooklyn Dodgers, Game 3 of NL playoffs. Giants win on Bobby Thomson’s homerun known as the “Shot Heard ’Round the World.”- Ernie Harwell

Aug. 26, 1955 - First Color Television broadcast - Davis Cup match between Australia and the U.S. - NBC

July 23, 1962 - First Satellite Telecast via Telstar Communications - included portion of Chicago Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies from Wrigley Field - Jack Brickhouse

Jan.15, 1967 - First Television Broadcast of a Football Championship- Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs - Jack Buck

Nov. 8, 1972 - First Sports Telecast by HBO - New York Rangers vs. Vancouver Canucks from Madison Square Garden reaches HBO’s 365 subscribers in Wilkes Barre, Pa. - Marty Glickman

Aug. 16, 1976 - First Pro Football Game Outside the United States- St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Chargers in Japan- Jack Buck

Aug. 3, 1993 - First Woman to do Television Play-by-Play of a Baseball Game -Colorado Rockies vs. Cincinnati Reds -Gayle Gardner on KNGN-TV in Denver