The broadcasting of sports events is the coverage of sports on television, radio and other broadcasting mediums. It usually involves one or more commentators describing the events as they happen. Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

History

United States

The final touchdown of the 1958 NFL Championship.

The first radio broadcast of a baseball game was on 5 August 1921 over Westinghouse station KDKA from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pat Wheelz announced a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies. In September of 1939, the first American football game, a college contest between Fordham and Waynesburg College was broadcast on television [1]. NBC can be accredited to the first television broadcast of a National Football League (NFL) game, when they covered a match on 22 October 1939 between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The broadcast rights of the NFL soon became an important property after the 1958 NFL Championship. Image File history File links Photo of the 1958 NFL Championship game. ... Image File history File links Photo of the 1958 NFL Championship game. ... The 1958 National Football League Championship Game was played on December 28, 1958 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. ... Major League Baseball on the radio has been a tradition for almost 80 years, and still exists today. ... is the 217th day of the year (218th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... KDKA is a U.S. class A clear channel AM radio station located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that operates on 1020 kHz. ... For other uses, see Forbes Field (disambiguation). ... Pittsburgh redirects here. ... Major league affiliations National League (1887–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 33, 40, 42 Name Pittsburgh Pirates (1891–present) Pittsburgh Innocents (1890) Pittsburg Alleghenies (1882–1889) (Also referred to as Infants in 1890) Other nicknames The Bucs, The Buccos... Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 14, 20, 32, 36, 42 Name Fightin Philadelphia Phillies (1884–present) Philadelphia Quakers (1883-1889) (Also referred to as Blue Jays 1943-1945 despite formal name remaining Phillies) Other nicknames The Phils, The Phightin... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... Fordham University is a private, coeducational research university[2] in the United States, with three residential campuses located in and around New York City. ... Waynesburg College is a private, Christian, liberal arts college located in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, USA. The college offers graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations, and enrolls over 2,100 students, including about 1,300 undergraduates. ... This article is about the television network. ... NFL redirects here. ... is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Team colors Midnight Green, Black, White, and Silver Head Coach Andy Reid Owner Jeffrey Lurie General manager Tom Heckert (official) Andy Reid (de facto) Fight song Fly, Eagles Fly Mascot Swoop League/Conference affiliations National Football League (1933–present) Eastern Division (1933-1949) American Conference (1950-1952... The Brooklyn Dodgers was an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. ... The television rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any sport. ... The 1958 National Football League Championship Game was played on December 28, 1958 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. ...

Monday Night Football , NFL on FOX, and NBC Sunday Night Football have changed the landscape of American football broadcasts, including the scheduling of the Super Bowl, transforming it into a primetime spectacle from an afternoon broadcast. Monday Night Football (MNF) is a live television broadcast of the National Football League. ... NFL on FOX is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Companys coverage of the National Football Leagues National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports. ... NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. ... The winning Super Bowl team receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy. ...

Canada

See also: Hockey Night in Canada

In 1933, Foster Hewitt called a Canada-wide radio broadcast of a National Hockey League battle between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Always starting the broadcast with "Hello, Canada!", this phrase stuck around all the way to CBC's first national television broadcast (the first actual broadcast was on closed-circuit in Maple Leaf Gardens in Spring 1952) in October of 1952. Today it is consistently among the highest rated programs in Canada. Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) is a popular television broadcast of National Hockey League games in Canada, produced by the CBC. Hockey Night consistently remains one of the highest-rated Canadian programs on television. ... The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. ... This article refers to a surveillance system. ... Exterior signage as of 2006, with letters missing Maple Leaf Gardens was an indoor arena in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street. ...

Broadcasting rights and contracts

See also: Sports television broadcast contracts

Broadcasting rights and contracts limit who can show footage of the event. Broadcast/cable networks of selected major sports and sporting events: // National Football League: ESPN AFL Premiership Season: Seven Network: Friday Night Football and 1 Sunday Afternoon Match. ...

In the United Kingdom BSkyB based its early marketing largely on its acquisition of the broadcast rights of the top division of the English league football, which as part of the deal with the Football Association broke away from the Football League to become the FA Premier League. This prevented the footage of any major Premiership football game being shown on free-to-air television until much later that evening (as highlights), something the European Commission were very unhappy about. Following warnings of legal action to stop the monopoly, an announcement was made that an alternative structure would be in place when the current contracts end in 2007. [2] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The English football league system, otherwise known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in England. ... The Football Association (The FA) is the governing body of football in England and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. ... The Football League is a league competition featuring professional football clubs from England and Wales, and is the oldest such competition in world football. ... For the Scottish equivalent see Scottish Premier League The FA Premier League (often referred to as the Barclays Premiership in England and the Barclays English Premier League or just simply The EPL internationally) is a league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system... Berlaymont, the Commissions seat The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive branch of the European Union. ...

In the United States, sports are broadcast by networks usually only in "game of the week" or championship situations, except for the NFL (see NFL on television). Other sports are broadcast by sports channels, and are limited by who can view them based on various rules set by the leagues themselves, resulting in blackouts. These limitations can be legally overlooked by purchasing out-of-market packages, such as MLB Extra Innings or NFL Sunday Ticket. Regular season games involving local teams (except the NFL) may also be viewed on those local stations or regional sports channels that have a contract to broadcast that team's games. A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... The television rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any sport. ... Sports channels are television specialty channels that present sports content. ... For blackouts of syndicated programming, see syndication exclusivity. ... NFL Sunday Ticket is an Out-of-Market Sports Package that broadcasts National Football League regular season games unavailable on local affiliates. ...

Protected events

In the UK, the regulations set out in the ITC Code on Sports and Other Listed Events dictate that some sporting events must have coverage made available to free-to-air channels. "Category A" events, including the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, should be available live, while "Category B" events such as all test cricket played in England and the Commonwealth Games should be available as highlights or with a short delay. The ITC Code on Sports and Other Listed Events is a series of regulations issued by the Independent Television Commission which is designed to protect the availability of live coverage of so-called listed events in sport - typically major sporting occasions - on free-to-air services (terrestrial television) in the... The five Olympic rings were designed in 1913, adopted in 1914 and debuted at the Games at Antwerp, 1920. ... For the club competition, see FIFA Club World Cup. ... For the womens version of the game, see Womens Test cricket. ... Current flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation Locations of the games, and participating countries Commonwealth Games Federation seal, adopted in 2001 The Commonwealth Games is a multinational, multi-sport event. ...

Major sports broadcasts

The sporting event with the largest worldwide audience is the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) World Cup. FIFA initially estimated a cumulative audience of 28.8 quadrillion viewers watched the 2006 FIFA World Cup on television, and 1.3 billion viewers watched the final match. However, actual figures showed figure much lower - approximately 715 million for the final. This would still make the World Cup the most watched sporting event in the world[3]. Other events that have been described as "the most watched" per various definitions include the Summer Olympic Games, Super Bowl, and the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. 2006 World Cup redirects here. ... Poster for the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. ... The winning Super Bowl team receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy. ... Formula One, abbreviated to F1 and also known as Grand Prix racing, is the highest class of single-seat open-wheel auto racing. ...

Broadcasters by country

United Kingdom

The British media is dominated by national outlets, with local media playing a much smaller role. Traditionally the BBC played a dominant role in televising sport, providing extensive high-quality advertisement free coverage and free publicity, in exchange for been granted broadcast rights for low fees. ITV broadcast a smaller portfolio of events, and Channel 4 broadcast a few events from the 1980s, mainly horse races. In the early 1990s this arrangement was shaken up by the arrival of pay-TV in the form of BSkyB. Their dedicated sports channels have since become the only place for some major sports to be seen. As of 2006 the Irish company Setanta Sports is emerging as a challenger to Sky Sports' dominance of the British pay-TV sports market. There is also a dedicated UK-version of Eurosport, called British Eurosport. For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV, but also as ITV Network) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting... This article is about the British television station. ... Pay television, or pay-TV, usually refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analogue and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly by digital terrestrial methods. ... Setanta Sports (pronunciation: ) is an international sports broadcaster, operating 12 channels in 24 countries. ... Eurosport is the largest European sports satellite and cable network available in 54 countries and broadcasting in 18 different languages. ... Eurosport is the largest European sports satellite and cable network available in 54 countries and broadcasting in 18 different languages. ...

Radio sports coverage is also important. The BBC's Radio Five Live broadcasts almost all major sports events. It now has a commercial rival called talkSPORT, but this has not acquired anywhere near as many exclusive contracts as Sky Sports and dedicates much of its airtime to sports discussions and phone-ins. BBC Local Radio also provides extensive coverage of sport, giving more exposure to second-tier clubs which get limited national coverage. BBC Radio Five Live is the BBCs radio service providing live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries. ... talkSPORT is a commercial sports and talk radio station, based in London, broadcasting to the United Kingdom providing sports talk, live commentaries, phone-in discussion and talk shows. ... Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of 9 channels. ... BBC Local Radio is the BBCs regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations. ...

United States

Sports are broadcast on networks NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX usually during the weekends, with sports channels like ESPN and FSN broadcasting during the week. General entertainment channels like TNT, TBS, and USA show certain events (major golf and tennis, dog shows) occasionally. A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... The NBC Sports logo used since 1989. ... [1] ABC Sports is a division of ABC, responsible for the televising of many sports events on the network. ... CBS Sports is a division of CBS which airs many of the sports telecasts in the United States. ... The Fox Sports logo used from 1999 to the present. ... Sports channels are television specialty channels that present sports content. ... ESPN/ESPN-DT, formerly an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an [[United States|Amer<nowiki>Insert non-formatted text here--68. ... Fox Sports Net headquarters in Los Angeles. ... Turner Network Television, usually referred to as TNT, is an American cable TV network created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. ... Turner Broadcasting logo Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. ...

Dedicated sports channels

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2007)

There are sports channels that show sporting events, sports news, and various sport-related programming. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Sports channels are television specialty channels (usually available exclusively through cable and satellite) broadcast sporting events, usually live, and when not broadcasting events, sports news and other related programming. ...

In the United States

In the United States, the cable channel ESPN is by far the largest dedicated sports channel. It has spawned ESPN2, and the two networks broadcast a wide variety of sporting events, ranging from major sports playoffs to lumberjack contests and poker. ESPN/ESPN-DT, formerly an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an [[United States|Amer<nowiki>Insert non-formatted text here--68. ... ESPN2 debuted on October 1, 1993, as a sister station of ESPN. Nicknamed the deuce, ESPN2 was to be branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross, snowboarding, and BMX racing. ...

ESPN has even been the namesake of several children as documented in this BBC article

Several regional sports channels offer lower-profile content. Examples include the many regional Fox Sports Networks. For Fox Sports in Australia see Fox Sports (Australia). ...

CSTV, ESPNU and Fox College Sports broadcasts collegiate (university) sporting events with smaller audiences that have heretofore been largely absent from national television. CSTV Networks, Inc. ... ESPNU is a television channel that specializes in college sports, and is produced by, affiliated with and owned by parent network ESPN. ESPNU originates out of ESPN Regional Televisions Charlotte, North Carolina offices. ... Fox College Sports is a United States digital cable network, owned by News Corporation, that specializes primarily in College sports. ...

With the growing number of 'niche' channels on the U.S. television landscape, a swarm of channels have sprung up that focus on one sport:

• American Football: NFL Network
• Auto Racing: Speed Channel
• Basketball: NBA TV
• Football (soccer): Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV
• Golf: The Golf Channel
• Horse Racing: TVG Network
• Tennis: Tennis Channel

Some of the world's largest sports clubs have their own channels, or own shares in other sports networks. Examples include Yankees Entertainment and Sports and Manchester United TV. An example of the latter, the Boston Red Sox own a majority stake of the regional New England Sports Network which retains the New England area television broadcast rights for the majority of Red Sox games (except for the few which are carried nationally on Fox or ESPN and playoff games.) United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... NFL Network is an American specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League (NFL) and is also shown in Canada and Mexico. ... SPEED Channel, based in Charlotte, NC, was launched on New Years Day 1996, by Roger Werner, as SpeedVision. ... This article is about the sport. ... NBA TV is a television network that is dedicated to showcasing the sport of basketball in the United States. ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... Fox Soccer Channel is a United States digital cable network, owned by News Corporation, that specializes in soccer. ... This is a bilingual sports network devoted exclusively to soccer. ... This article is about the sport. ... The Golf Channel is an American cable television network devoted (obviously) to the game of golf. ... Horse-racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example, as was the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. ... TVG Network is an American digital cable network that specializes in horse racing. ... For other uses, see Tennis (disambiguation). ... The Tennis Channel is a digital cable television channel with programming devoted to the game of tennis. ... The Yankees Entertainment and Sports (YES) Network is a New York City regional cable TV channel dedicated to broadcasting baseball games of the New York Yankees, and basketball games of the New Jersey Nets. ... MUTV is a British subscription based television channel, operated by Manchester United F.C.. The channel offers Manchester United fans exclusive interviews with players and staff, full matches, including all Premier League games (not broadcast live), reserves games and classic matches plus footballing news and other themed programming. ... Major league affiliations American League (1901–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 27, 42 Name Boston Red Sox (1908–present) Boston Americans (1901-1907) Other nicknames The BoSox, The Olde Towne Team, The Sox Ballpark Fenway Park (1912–present) Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds... The New England Sports Network, or NESN [NESS-en], is a regional cable television network that covers the six New England states. ...

References

This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.