The football game that changed America How the NFL created a national holiday

Dennis Deninger

Book - 2024

"The Football Game That Changed America is the first book to chronicle the entire history of the Super Bowl and examine the social, cultural, economic, and political impact of this colossal event, bringing to life the colorful characters, bold rivals, and twists of fate that played a role in the creation and explosive growth of the Big Game"--

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Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor New Shelf 796.332648/Deninger (NEW SHELF) Checked In
Subjects
Published
Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield [2024]
Language
English
Main Author
Dennis Deninger (author)
Item Description
Includes index.
Physical Description
xx, 270 pages ; 24 cm
ISBN
9781538196786
  • Foreword
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1. The Pre-Super Bowl NFL: Humble Beginnings
  • Chapter 2. The Creation of the Super Bowl
  • Chapter 3. Super Bowl I Was a Scramble-and Don't Call It the Super Bowl
  • Chapter 4. The Super Bowl Starts Making History
  • Chapter 5. Politics, Patriotism, and the Power for Change
  • Chapter 6. The Super Bowl's Impact on American Culture and Society
  • Chapter 7. Count the Dollars-Billions and Billions of Them
  • Chapter 8. Brands Worth Defending
  • Chapter 9. The King of the Advertising Jungle
  • Chapter 10. The Media and the Super Bowl
  • Chapter 11. It's an Entertainment Extravaganza and a Football Game
  • Chapter 12. The Drive to Super Bowl 100
  • Notes
  • Index
  • About the Author
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

This entertaining history from Deninger (Live Sports Media), a former ESPN producer, traces how the Super Bowl became "the largest shared American experience of the year." He explains how the American Football League's 1960 launch threatened the National Football League's monopoly, motivating the latter to initiate a 1966 merger that stipulated a "world championship game" between the top teams from each league. The Super Bowl got off to a shaky start, Deninger writes, noting that a third of the tickets went unsold at the first game in 1967, and that the NFL's dominance over the AFL in the first two Super Bowls led the leagues to consider abandoning the matchups until the unexpected triumph of the Jets, an AFL team, at Super Bowl III. Elsewhere, Deninger discusses how the Super Bowl became an advertising bonanza and chronicles the evolution of the halftime show. He details mind-boggling statistics about the game (it provides a $41.9 billion annual boost to the national economy) and serves up plenty of amusing tidbits (the name "Super Bowl" was proposed in jest by AFL cofounder Lamar Hunt, who wrote in a memo, "We should coin a phrase for the championship game.... I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon"). Football fans will find much to cheer for. (Sept.)

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