The history of technology in sports

The History of Technology in SportsBy: Kelly King

1920 — The First Widespread Radio Broadcasts

On November 25th, 1920, it was the first time a football game had ever been broadcast over the radio.

Broadcasting

TelevisionOn May 17th, 1939, the first ever television broadcast of any sport was cast, it was a college baseball game. At this time, there were only 400 televisions in the entire country that were able to watch the baseball game.

Jackie RobinsonJackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 when he got signed onto the MLB team, the Brooklyn Dodgers.

During Robinson’s journey he had a companion alongside him named Wendell Smith, who was a black sports writer and columnist. Smith followed Robinson during all of his journey, being a support for Robinson and also writing his story. Smith was not allowed to be in the press box because he was black, so he would sit in the stands and write with a type writer that sat on his lap.

The Negro League Baseball Museum

The Negro League Baseball Museum Cont…

The Negro League Baseball Museum Cont…

Then in 1955, a version of instant replay was born and in 1963 the VCR was created.

In 1965 on-screen graphics came to life, and the days of holding cue cards in front of the camera were gone. Also in 1996 Fox created what is known as the FOX Box which was a bar at the top of the screen, and at all times of the game it would show the number of strikes, speed of pitch, how many bases are loaded, etc.

In 1979, was the birth of ESPN who declared that they would be airing nothing but sports 24-7.

Also in 1996 Fox created what is known as the FOX Box which was a bar at the top of the screen, and at all times of the game it would show the number of strikes, speed of pitch, how many bases are loaded, etc.

Then in 1999, TiVo/DVR came to life and changed the way that millions of sports fans and all Americans viewed television. Another amazing technology that has impacted sports and how we view it is the internet.

In 1988, an extraordinary torch was invented during those winter games that was created with a special fuel that would prevent the torch from burning out for 88 days straight.

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