R.I.P.: New York Giants Owner Wellington Mara; Helped Pave Way For NFL League-Wide TV Deals

[Joseph_Gallant]

R.I.P.: New York Giants Owner Wellington Mara; Helped Pave Way For NFL League-Wide TV Deals

Longtime New York Giants owner Wellington Mara is dead at the age of 89.

I am bringing the subject up on this board because in 1962, he and his brother Jack (who were co-owners of the Giants at the time) agreed to equally share network television revenues among all NFL teams, paving the way for the first-ever league-wide regular-season network TV contract with CBS.

Prior to 1962, reach NFL team made it's own deal for television coverage. For the previous seven years, most (but not all) NFL teams had individual deals with CBS. Exceptions included Pittsburgh and the old Baltimore Colts (who had deals with NBC in the very early 1960's); I think the Cleveland Browns also had their own deal with WJW-8 there which had the station syndicating Browns' games on a regional basis.

Being in the number-one market, the Giants probably would have gotten more money for the 1962 season from their own TV deal than the share they eventually got from the league-wide deal with CBS.

With Mara having agreed to the idea, other large market NFL owners (George Halas in Chicago and Carroll Rosembloom in Los Angeles) fell in line.

And with all NFL regular-season and playoff games on national television, total revenues generated by all the teams are pretty much equal, whether in New York or Green Bay. As a result, some smaller market teams like Green Bay in the 1960's (and again in the 1990's) and Pittsburgh in the 1970's were able to win championships and successfully compete against "large market" clubs.

This is a link to a Fox Sports story on Mara.

 

[oldvnewschool]

Re: R.I.P.: New York Giants Owner Wellington Mara; Helped Pave Way For NFL League-Wide TV Deals

> Longtime New York Giants owner Wellington Mara is dead at
> the age of 89.
>
> I am bringing the subject up on this board because in 1962,
> he and his brother Jack (who were co-owners of the Giants at
> the time) agreed to equally share network television
> revenues among all NFL teams, paving the way for the
> first-ever league-wide regular-season network TV contract
> with CBS.
>
> Prior to 1962, reach NFL team made it's own deal for
> television coverage. For the previous seven years, most (but
> not all) NFL teams had individual deals with CBS. Exceptions
> included Pittsburgh and the old Baltimore Colts (who had
> deals with NBC in the very early 1960's); I think the
> Cleveland Browns also had their own deal with WJW-8 there
> which had the station syndicating Browns' games on a
> regional basis.
>
> Being in the number-one market, the Giants probably would
> have gotten more money for the 1962 season from their own TV
> deal than the share they eventually got from the league-wide
> deal with CBS.
>
> With Mara having agreed to the idea, other large market NFL
> owners (George Halas in Chicago and Carroll Rosembloom in
> Los Angeles) fell in line.
>
> And with all NFL regular-season and playoff games on
> national television, total revenues generated by all the
> teams are pretty much equal, whether in New York or Green
> Bay. As a result, some smaller market teams like Green Bay
> in the 1960's (and again in the 1990's) and Pittsburgh in
> the 1970's were able to win championships and successfully
> compete against "large market" clubs.
>
> This is a link to a Fox Sports story on Mara.
>
That is a huge loss.

I know he had a big hand in reviving the franchise in the late 70's early 80's

I grew up hearing about the Giants and how great they were with LT & Phil Simms

& Jeff Hosteller & Mark Bavarro and with Bill Parcells as their head coach.

I'm certain this year's Giant's with Eli Manning, Tiki Barber and Michael

Straham and Tom Coughlin as head coach would've made him proud.

However you point out on that yes all NFL teams had seperate deals with other

networks. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins, and the New York Giants

and the LA (Now St. Louis Rams) were part of the old Dumont Network when they

use to have a Saturday Night Game of the Week nearly 55 years ago. They went

with CBS beginning in 1956 when Dumont was unable to bid for those rights which

meant had Dumont been succesful, they could've lived on and become the first NFL

Network. I'm surprised that the Colts had an NBC deal. I always thought NBC had

a deal to televise the NFL Championship Game wirh the only reason that CBS got

to air it that year is because the Giants had a CBS deal.

 

[bhayes1016]

Re: R.I.P.: New York Giants Owner Wellington Mara; Helped Pave Way For NFL League-Wide TV Deals

Didn't the Redskins have their own TV network at that time, also?

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: R.I.P.: New York Giants Owner Wellington Mara; Helped Pave Way For NFL League-Wide TV Deals

BHayes 1016 asked:

> Didn't the Redskins have their own TV network at that time,
> (prior to the NFL having a league-wide TV deal) also?

I believe the 'Skins had a deal with DuMont in the early and mid 1950's (DuMont's Washington affiliate, WTTG-5, was an O&O).

After DuMont collapsed, CBS inherited the three NFL team contracts DuMont had (the Skins, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers, although the Steelers eventually left CBS to make a deal with NBC). CBS added a few other teams (mostly in markets with a CBS O&O or a longtime affiliate), and in 1962, signed a contract with the league giving it the rights to all games of every team.

I don't think the Redskins ever has their own network for regular-season games.

 

[BigDave]

Re: R.I.P.: New York Giants Owner Wellington Mara; Helped Pave Way For NFL League-Wide TV Deals

Strangely enough Wellington Mara started off as a bookie

 

[ixnay]

Re: R.I.P.: New York Giants Owner Wellington Mara; Helped Pave Way For NFL League-Wide TV Deals

I thought it was Well's father Tim (the Giants' founder) who was a bookie?

Thanks for reviving this thread, BigDave. I was wondering how long Well has been dead. For some reason I thought he died a year after he did. Hard to believe Big Blue has bagged 2 footballs-on-a-pylon since Wellington left us.

ixnay

 

[BigDave]

Re: R.I.P.: New York Giants Owner Wellington Mara; Helped Pave Way For NFL League-Wide TV Deals

I thought it was Well's father Tim (the Giants' founder) who was a bookie?

Thanks for reviving this thread, BigDave. I was wondering how long Well has been dead. For some reason I thought he died a year after he did. Hard to believe Big Blue has bagged 2 footballs-on-a-pylon since Wellington left us.

ixnay
[/quot

It was His father,the Maras were great owners

 

[Bob1370]

Re: R.I.P.: New York Giants Owner Wellington Mara; Helped Pave Way For NFL League-Wide TV Deals

Funny thing, a lot of the NFL's founding generation of owners had alleged ties to betting back in the 1920s and 1930s. Back in the day those things were tolerated and even quasi-legal.

Oscar-nominated actress Rooney Mara, who starred in last year's "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and will reprise her role as Lisbeth Salander, is a grandchild of both the Maras and of Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney. (She's a Giants fan.)