40 Year Anniversary of the “Heidi Game”

It was 40 years ago today that one of the biggest blunders in televised sports history took place. The infamous Heidi Game. On 17 November 1968 the New York Jets were playing at the Oakland Raiders. The Jets were up 32-29 with only 65 seconds left in the game when the NBC programmers made the decision to switch to the movie Heidi instead of delaying the broadcast until the end of the game. And the Oakland Raiders went on to score 14 points in those final 65 seconds and NBC fielded multiple calls from angry fans over the decision to switch from the game. That one incident changed how football is broadcasted on TV by the NFL instituting a rule that all football games must be shown in their entirety in the team’s market.

I am a follower of Jesus, a husband to Kim, father to Hannah & Caleb, and the connections pastor at The River Church. The thoughts expressed here are my own and not The River Church's.

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