David Rosenthal

And the two major networks at the time, CBS and NBC, had deals with NFL teams.

But there was another upstart TV network out there, ABC, and they were the perfect match.

So Hunt goes to ABC and they find a young executive there.

ABC doesn't even have a sports division at this point in time, but a young executive within ABC named Rune Arledge.

What a legend.

So Rune would ultimately become Bob Iger's mentor, and Bob Iger would rise through the ABC Sports ranks in the beginning of his career before taking over Cap Cities and then obviously all of Disney.

So this is Rune's big opportunity.

He sees, it's obvious at this point in time in the late 50s, that nationally televised football games are

There's demand for it.

Well, and with those early NFL deals, it was like those were individual deals that teams made with networks and local stations.

So it was like a local thing.

It wasn't football Sunday.

It wasn't a national event.

Right.

This was the first nationwide, network-wide contract.

Yeah.

So ABC signs a league-wide five-year TV rights deal with the American Football League for $8.5 million over five years.

It was by far, far the single biggest sports rights TV deal in history at the time.

And that was before the league had played a single game.

So here we are now in January 1960, back to the NFL.