The NFL doesn't want anyone to watch the only known footage of Super Bowl I

NFL does not want anyone watching Superbowl I footage.

(Image credit: Elsa/Getty Images)

published 2 February 2016

In the history of lost sports programs, the "holy grail" is Super Bowl I — the footage of which was until recently believed to be lost forever. In early January, the NFL Network spliced together a crude recreation of the 1967 game between the Packers and the Chiefs, but it had to use a dozen different grainy sources to do so. Only one person on the planet is known to have the actual footage of the first Super Bowl — but the NFL is apparently doing everything they can to make sure it never sees the light of day.

Tony Haupt, 47, found the ultra-rare footage in his mother's attic — it had been recorded by his father, whom he never knew. The footage was estimated to be worth $1 million by Sports Illustrated in 2005.

With Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos approaching Sunday, [Haupt] felt it was time to come forward as the owner of the tapes. For the past five years, he let his lawyer speak about an unidentified client who had the recording, who had made a deal with the Paley Center for Media in Manhattan to restore it and who was trying to sell the tapes to the N.F.L.But the league does not seem to agree with him that the tapes are a significant enough part of its legacy that it should pay him what he wants. It countered his initial request for $1 million with a $30,000 offer. It never raised its price and is not interested anymore in paying anything at all."It's awesome to have the tapes, but it's frustrating that we can't do anything with them," Haupt said. "It's like you've won the golden ticket but you can't get into the chocolate factory." [The New York Times]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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