HBO Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Professional and tournament sports==== As HBO was being developed, the Time Inc./Sterling Communications partnership elected a local origination channel operated by Sterling Manhattan Cable Television (which served as the progenitor of the MSG Network) to handle production responsibilities for home game broadcasts involving the [[New York Knicks]] and [[New York Rangers]]βboth based at [[Madison Square Garden]]βthat would be televised on HBO throughout its initial Mid-Atlantic U.S. service area. (HBO founder Charles Dolan, through Cablevision, would purchase the arena and its headlining sports teams in a $1.075-billion joint bid with the [[ITT Corporation]] in August 1994; his son, [[James L. Dolan]], has owned the Knicks and Rangers through [[The Madison Square Garden Company]] since 2015, and Madison Square Garden through [[Madison Square Garden Entertainment]] by way of the former company's 2020 spin-off of its non-sports entertainment assets.) The contracts related to this arrangement dated to May 1969, when Manhattan Cable Television first signed a one-year, $300,000 contract with Madison Square Garden to broadcast 125 sports events held at the arena, and was extended for five additional years in November 1970.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=N.Y. CATV, Garden make sports deal |periodical=Broadcasting |page=22 |date=May 26, 1969}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=THE GARDEN SALE: THE DEAL; Madison Sq. Garden Deal Is a Victory for Viacom|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/29/business/the-garden-sale-the-deal-madison-sq-garden-deal-is-a-victory-for-viacom.html|author=Geraldine Fabrikant|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 29, 1994|access-date=July 17, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=CATV gets five-year TV sports contract |periodical=Broadcasting |page=51 |date=November 16, 1970}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=CATV gets five-year TV sports contract |periodical=Broadcasting |page=54 |date=November 16, 1970}}</ref> On November 1, 1972, one week before HBO formally launched, Madison Square Garden granted Sterling the rights to televise its sporting events to cable television systems outside New York City.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=How does your garden grow? |periodical=Broadcasting |page=51 |date=November 6, 1972}}</ref><ref name="nyt-sterlingmsgdeal">{{cite news |author=Louis Calta |date=November 2, 1972 |title=STERLING CABLE TV IN 200-EVENT DEAL |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/02/archives/sterling-cable-tv-in-200event-deal-signs-with-madison-square-garden.html |access-date=July 17, 2020}}</ref> The first game under this arrangement was the New York Rangers-Vancouver Canucks NHL game that launched Home Box Office on November 8, 1972, and served as its inaugural sports broadcast. For the 1974β75 Rangers and Islanders seasons, HBO contracted MSG announcers for play-by-play and color commentating duties; this created a burden on announcers to fill what otherwise would be [[dead air]] over the HBO feed of the games, since the service does not accept advertising, during the MSG Network's commercial airtime. [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA) and [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) coverage expanded with HBO's transition into a national satellite service, covering non-New York-based teams in both leagues (including the NBA's [[Milwaukee Bucks]], [[Boston Celtics]], [[Portland Trail Blazers]], [[Golden State Warriors]] and [[Los Angeles Lakers]]; and the NHL's [[Los Angeles Kings]]) under individual agreements as well as select playoff games.<ref name="b&c-hbograbssports">{{cite magazine |title=HBO grabs more sports |periodical=Broadcasting |page=49 |date=November 24, 1975}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Program Briefs: Partners. |periodical=Broadcasting |page=68 |date=February 16, 1976}}</ref> (The NBA and NHL discontinued their HBO telecasts after their respective 1976β77 seasons. In May 1978, the [[New York Supreme Court]] ruled then-Islanders and Nets president [[Roy Boe]] had [[breach of contract|breached an exclusive contract]] with Dolan's successor firm Long Island Cable Communications Development Co. through the HBO agreement and concurring contracts with other New York-area cable systems.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Cable firm wins suit against sports owner |periodical=Broadcasting |page=75 |date=May 22, 1978}}</ref>) In 1974, the network acquired the rights to broadcast [[World Football League]] (WFL) games from the [[Charlotte Hornets (WFL)|New York Stars]] (later relocated to [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]] as the Charlotte Hornets midway through the WFL's [[1974 World Football League season|inaugural season]]) and the [[Philadelphia Bell]]; 18 WFL games aired on HBO throughout two seasons until the league abruptly folded midway through the [[1975 World Football League season|1975 season]].<ref name="b&c-04291974">{{cite magazine |title=Pay television reaches 12% penetration on cable systems where it's offered |periodical=Broadcasting |page=25 |date=April 29, 1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=WFL on HBO Sports|url=http://wfl.charlottehornetswfl.com/pages_1974/hbo.php|website=WFL Charlotte Hornets|access-date=July 17, 2020}}</ref> In March 1973, HBO signed a $1.5-million contract to acquire the regional rights to a selection of [[American Basketball Association]] (ABA) games for five years; notably, it carried the [[1976 ABA Playoffs|1976 ABA Finals]]βthe league's last tournament game before the completion of its merger with the NBAβa six-game tournament in which the [[Brooklyn Nets|New York Nets]] beat the [[Denver Nuggets]] four games to two. The merger of the two professional basketball leagues resulted in an early termination of HBO's ABA contract, which was originally set to expire on July 1, 1977, following the conclusion of the 1975β76 season.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Cable, pay TV make inroads on pro sports |periodical=Broadcasting |page=118 |date=March 19, 1973}}</ref> Through 1977, HBO carried other sporting events originating on the Sterling Manhattan/Manhattan Cable sports channel, including [[World Hockey Association]] regular season and playoff games; [[Eastern College Athletic Conference]] (ECAC) tournaments (including the [[ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament|Men's Ice Hockey Tournament]] and the ECAC Holiday Festival basketball tournament); [[World TeamTennis]]; international [[high school basketball]] invitationals; the [[National Horse Show]]; [[harness racing]] events from [[Yonkers Raceway & Empire City Casino|Yonkers Raceway]]; equestrian, [[roller derby]] and ice skating events; the [[Professional Karate Association|World Professional Karate Championships]]; the [[Millrose Games]] track and field invitational; the [[American Kennel Club|Westchester Kennel Club Dog Show]]; and [[Capitol Wrestling Corporation|World Wide Wrestling Federation]] matches. (The regionalized sports focus was soon copied by other local subscription television services launched during the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably [[PRISM (TV channel)|PRISM]], [[ONTV (pay TV)|ONTV]] and [[Wometco Home Theater]].) [[NCAA Division I|NCAA Division I college basketball]] games held at Madison Square Garden and, after becoming a national service, other venues (including the [[National Invitational Tournament]] and the Holiday Basketball Festival) were also carried by the network until the 1978β79 season.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Trotters for a price |periodical=Broadcasting |page=50 |date=May 28, 1973}}</ref> HBO also provided regional coverage of [[New York Yankees]] baseball games for the 1974 season. New York independent station [[WPIX]] (now a [[The CW|CW]] affiliate) provided microwave signal pickup assistance to HBO for the telecasts; through its right of first refusal on game selection in its local television contract with the team, covering the team's away games, WPIX preempted planned coverage of four Yankees games that HBO was scheduled to carry that season. (The [[Philadelphia Phillies]] reportedly rejected an offer for HBO to televise regular season games not shown locally on independent [[WPHL-TV]] [now a [[MyNetworkTV]] affiliate].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Pay cable and sports trouble independents |periodical=Broadcasting |page=79 |date=April 2, 1973}}</ref>) HBO's Yankees telecast spurred a complaint filed in June 1974 by [[National Association of Broadcasters]] Special Committee on Pay TV chairman Willard Walbridge, who alleged they violated anti-siphoning rules barring pay television services from carrying live sports televised regularly on broadcast stations within two years. HBO representatives contended that regulatory interference over the game broadcasts was prohibited under the [[First Amendment of the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] and that it offered only weekday games as WPIX held rights to selected Yankees weekend games; it also contended the anti-siphoning rules did not apply as there was not a per-program charge for the broadcasts. In September 1974, citing the games were unavailable on broadcast television, the FCC gave temporary authorization for HBO to carry no more than three of the team's remaining regular season games. (The Yankees telecasts ran only for that season.)<ref name="b&c-04291974"/><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Walbridge damns Yankees on pay cable |periodical=Broadcasting |page=56 |date=June 24, 1974}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=Walbridge damns Yankees on pay cable |periodical=Broadcasting |page=57 |date=June 24, 1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=FCC to question HBO on its pay-cable of Yankees |periodical=Broadcasting |page=33 |date=July 29, 1974}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=FCC to question HBO on its pay-cable of Yankees |periodical=Broadcasting |page=34 |date=July 29, 1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=HBO claims prohibition on Yankee games usurps its freedom of speech |periodical=Broadcasting |page=81 |date=August 19, 1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=FCC ad-hocs HBO-Yankees issue |periodical=Broadcasting |page=56 |date=September 23, 1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |title=Cable Television and Sports |author=Lawrence Walter Lynn |type=MA thesis |publisher=[[Michigan State University]] |year=1975 |url=https://d.lib.msu.edu/etd/14804/datastream/OBJ/View/ |access-date=November 11, 2020 |doi=10.25335/M5CC0TW0V |archive-date=November 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111192939/https://d.lib.msu.edu/etd/14804/datastream/OBJ/View/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> From 1973 to 1976, HBO carried [[Professional Bowlers Association]] (PBA) [[HBO Sports Bowling|tournament events]]; beginning with the Winston-Salem Open on June 10, 1973, the network aired around 25 PBA tournaments, including eight which HBO co-sponsored over those three years. [[Dick Stockton]], [[Marty Glickman]] and [[Spencer Ross]] served as [[play-by-play]] announcers, and Skee Foremsky acted as the [[color commentator]] for the bowling telecasts.<ref>{{cite web|title=Just Paying Attention|url=http://www.thebowlingnews.net/pdf/02-09-17_Bowling_news-WEB.pdf|author=Mark London|website=The Bowling News|date=February 9, 2017|access-date=July 7, 2020}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media|via=YouTube|title=1974 PBA New Jersey Open Introduction|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yg-pQC96Qw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/2Yg-pQC96Qw |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|access-date=October 5, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> With the assistance of programming consultation and acquisition firm [[IMG (company)|Trans World International]],<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Cable Briefs |periodical=Broadcasting |page=62 |date=September 22, 1975}}</ref> the expansion into a national service resulted in HBO expanding its sports coverage to include a broader array of events from the United States and Canada, including the [[North American Soccer League (1968β1984)|North American Soccer League]] (1976β1978), select [[Amateur Athletic Union]] tournaments (1976β1981), select [[LPGA]] golf tournaments (1976β1978), championship rodeo (1976β1978), the [[USA Gymnastics National Championships|USGF National Gymnastics Championships]] (1976β1981), [[Skate Canada International]] (1976β1978), the [[Canadian Football League]] (1976β1978), non-basketball NCAA tournaments including the [[NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships|Men's Gymnastics Championships]] (1976β1978) and the [[NCAA Division I Baseball Championship|Division I Baseball Championships]] (1977β1978). Most of the aforementioned events ceased to be part of HBO's sports offerings in 1978, citing much of its sporting events generally had regional appeal, "don't repeat" and were readily abundant on commercial television.<ref name="b&c-hbolevin">{{cite magazine |date=October 17, 1977 |title=Cablecastings: HBO: point man for an industry makes it into the clear |page=50 |periodical=Broadcasting}}<br />{{cite magazine |date=October 17, 1977 |title=Cablecastings: HBO: point man for an industry makes it into the clear |page=51 |periodical=Broadcasting}}<br />{{cite magazine |date=October 17, 1977 |title=Cablecastings: HBO: point man for an industry makes it into the clear |page=52 |periodical=Broadcasting}}<br />{{cite magazine |date=October 17, 1977 |title=Cablecastings: HBO: point man for an industry makes it into the clear |page=53 |periodical=Broadcasting}}</ref> The NCAA regular season and tournament events remained on HBO until the 1978β79 athletic season, shifting over to upstart basic cable network ESPN beginning with the 1979β80 athletic season under an exclusive national cable deal with the organization; USGF, AAU and select non-NCAA invitational events remained on the network until early 1981, thereafter limiting HBO's sports rights to boxing and Wimbledon.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=In Brief |periodical=Broadcasting |page=39 |date=February 26, 1979}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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