Reddit Reddit reviews America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation

We found 9 Reddit comments about America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation
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9 Reddit comments about America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation:

u/barrows_arctic · 137 pointsr/nfl

When the NFL first started broadcasting games on TV, circa 1949-1950 in Los Angeles for the Rams, they immediately saw a HUGE decrease in attendance. Back then, attendance and ticket sales were (by a very wide margin) their largest source of revenue. If it hadn't been for a sneaky deal that Dan Reeves had signed with the TV conglomerate that was doing the broadcasting (which saw him compensated for attendance drops greater than about 10%, IIRC), the Rams would have seen insurmountable monetary losses that first TV season.

Nowadays, the revenue model is based on TV contracts, so the rules are a bit outdated.

EDIT: this book has a pretty good couple of sections about the early TV experiments the NFL did. The wikipedia page on the blackout rules also has some info.

u/mikekowa · 5 pointsr/nfl

Football almost died in the beginning of the 1900's when 11 college kids died in one season. However, Roosevelt (I believe it was him, I'm Canadian so forgive me) really loved football and didn't want the nation to be "soft" and thought that football was great for toughness. He legislated tons of shit and basically started the changes necessary to make football safer. In came the helmet.

Source: America's Game, the book.
http://www.amazon.ca/Americas-Game-Michael-MacCambridge/dp/0375725067

u/TBausO · 3 pointsr/nfl

[America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation ] (https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Game-Football-Captured-Nation/dp/0375725067) by Michael MacCambridge is a really good starting point. It basically covers everything from the first draft to the early 2000.

u/jsep · 2 pointsr/nfl

There's actually a fantastic book that covers this exact question, along with charting the rise of the NFL from its roots to present day.

America's Game: The epic story of how Pro Football captured a nation.

I highly suggest anyone who hasn't read it before check it out. Not only is it well written, it's full of fantastic behind-the-scenes information on the sport. I read it first as a casual NFL follower and it gave me an unbelievable amount of history and understanding of the game. I re-read it this summer now as a die-hard and knowledgeable fan, and it's just as good.

But again, to the OP's question, this book traces the history of the NFL from a drowning, practically broke league 70+ years ago to our nation's favorite sport.

u/oppositeofcatchhome · 2 pointsr/nfl

If you're interested in the history of the NFL (and just professional football in general,) I highly recommend America's Game by Michael MacCambridge. While being pretty comprehensive, it is never dry. It's very cool learning about how football went from a sport that no one cared about outside of college to the behemoth that it is today.

u/SAFETY_dance · 1 pointr/nfl

Go get this book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0375725067?pc_redir=1409147524&robot_redir=1

One of the best football history books I've ever read - and it'll give you a new appreciation for your team. Basically, the NFC north wouldn't exist without the Browns.

u/arcangel092 · 1 pointr/nfl

America's Game by Michael MacCambridge is a tremendously detailed chronology of the NFL. I believe it starts with the 1958 championship game and continues to present day. I highly recommend it.

u/reftr · 1 pointr/nfl

For a good look at the history of the NFL I recommend America's Game by Michael MacCambridge. It's main focus is on the NFL/AFL merger and the business side of how Pro Football became so popular.

The other book I enjoyed was Leatherheads of the North by Chuck Frederick. It's a book about the early days of the NFL, mainly about the Duluth Kelleys/Eskimos, and how the league almost died a few times during those rough and tumble days of the roaring 20's. It's pretty short but it's a lot of fun to peer back to a time before the NFL had the strength and popularity it enjoys now.

u/Kredns · -4 pointsr/nfl

Can we not turn this subreddit into /r/TIL. TIL post don't really add much in the way of discussion (especially when it's just linking to Wikipedia articles).

For anyone interested in more NFL history I would highly recommend reading America's Game by Michael MacCambridge. I read it back in high school and it did an excellent job of giving a good overview of the NFL's history (going back to the 1930s I think).