Princeton University was a college football powerhouse in the 19th and early 20th centuries, winning the first-ever college football game against Rutgers in 1869.

Thanksgiving's connection to football began in 1876

It all started with a match between Princeton and Yale in 1876, attended by fewer than 1,000 fans. That competition spawned an annual tradition attracting millions of viewers across college and professional teams.

The Rose Bowl was first played in 1902 and was the first postseason college football game.

Teddy Roosevelt's intervention helped save football, which previously had been a brutally violent game.

Television transformed college football into a national spectacle

The rise of televised games in the mid-20th century expanded college football’s reach far beyond campus stadiums—turning regional rivalries into national events, boosting revenue, and cementing the sport as a Saturday tradition across the country.

For years, Black players were tacitly banned from professional football leagues

In 1902, Charles Follis was the first Black player to play in a professional football game, and Black players were allowed in years after other leagues banned them. A "gentleman’s agreement” led to the league banning Black players in 1933, until four Black men reintegrated pro football in 1946.

College football rivalry trophies range from historic prizes to bizarre oddities.

From the Paul Bunyan Trophy and the Golden Hat to the Old Brass Spittoon and the Bronze Pig, rivalry games feature prizes that mix tradition, regional pride, and a dash of eccentricity.

John Riddell’s first helmet was adopted by college football teams in 1939

The early days of football were violent and there was little protection for players, especially their heads. When deaths became commonplace, John Riddell set out to invent a better way to protect football players. Eventually, the technology from Riddell’s helmets ended up on WWII battlefields.

The Big Ten is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the US

Established in 1896 with seven members, the Big Ten has expanded far beyond its Midwestern roots. As of 2024, it includes 18 schools—stretching coast to coast from Rutgers in New Jersey to UCLA in California.

The 1968 'Game of the Century' turned college sports into prime-time TV

The 1968 NCAA men's championship was the first game broadcast live in prime time. It met the moment, offering a legendary rematch between UCLA (led by a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Houston (led by standout center Elvin Hayes). This retrospective breaks down what made the game such a successful spectacle and how it transformed the market for all college athletics.

100 years of NFL history in under four minutes

Founded in 1920 in Canton, Ohio, professional football has grown into the premiere sport in the US. Generating more than $20B annually, the NFL gained significant popularity after merging with the American Football League in 1970, a move which among other things established the Super Bowl.

Walter Camp shaped the rules that transformed football into the modern game

Known as the “Father of American Football,” Walter Camp introduced key innovations in the 1880s—such as the line of scrimmage, the system of downs, and the snap—that distinguished football from rugby and defined its modern structure.

Walter Camp revolutionized American Football

When Walter Camp was introduced to the game of football in the late 1800s, the rules weren’t set, the field wasn’t uniform, and the game was brutal. Camp joined early rules committees and was instrumental in shaping the modern game. Read this deep dive into Camp’s early life and influences, and find out how he established the line of scrimmage and the series of downs.

Texas beat USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl to win the national championship

In a matchup of undefeated powerhouses, Vince Young led Texas to a 41–38 victory over USC—capping what is widely regarded as the greatest college football game in history.

Before the BCS and Playoff systems, polls often sparked controversy over college football champions

For decades, national titles were awarded by polls like the AP and Coaches’ rankings—leading to split championships, heated debates, and disputed claims whenever top teams finished with identical records.

Five years after UMBC, Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Purdue to become the second-ever 16-seed to beat a 1 seed.

Five years after UMBC shocked Virginia, FDU pulled off an even more improbable upset. Ranked last out of all 68 tournament teams and a 23.5-point underdog, the Knights stunned Big Ten champion Purdue 63-58.

The Harlem Globetrotters played their first game in 1927

Black players were not permitted on the existing professional basketball teams, but Abe Saperstein—the team's original coach, owner, manager, and sometimes player—leaned into the team's all-Black roster, nodding to New York's historically Black neighborhood even though the team didn't play there until the late 1960s.

Indiana went from an all-time loser to a perfect championship season in 2025-2026.

Cricket used to be America's pastime

Before baseball, American football, basketball, or hockey ever organized in the US, there was one sport which could be found up and down the East Coast: cricket. The second-most popular sport in the world, cricket is mostly ignored by Americans, despite its prevalence in early American history. Learn more about the forgotten role cricket played in the US with this article.

The NFL held its first draft of college players in 1936

The NFL draft is a three-day spectacle with wall-to-wall media coverage and months of speculation about who will go to number one. But it wasn't always like that. The early days of the draft were done on a chalkboard and created a need for professional scouting departments.

FIFA was formed in 1904 and held its first tournament in 1930

In 1930, the first World Cup was held in Uruguay after the Olympics refused to allow professional soccer players to play in the 1932 games. The host country made it to the final of the 13-team event, playing against Argentina. Watch this remastered film of the 1930 match with Uruguay defeating Argentina 4-2 in front of 68,000 screaming fans at the newly opened Estadio Centenario.

A deaf college football quarterback may have invented the huddle, so teams could not steal their signs.

The Alabama-Auburn rivalry, known as the Iron Bowl, began in 1893.

See some of college football's most iconic gameday traditions.

NFL explained

The NFL is the premier professional American football league, founded in 1920 in Canton, Ohio. It consists of 32 teams playing an 18-week regular season from September to January, culminating in the Super Bowl championship in February. The NFL has grown into the world's most valuable sports league, generating nearly $20B in revenue in 2023, and with teams valued at $163B combined. Learn its history here.

College football bowl games boast some of sports' most absurd names and sponsors.

The Heisman Trophy has honored college football’s top player since 1935

Awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football, the Heisman Trophy has become iconic for its storied history, memorable acceptance speeches, and the success of many winners who went on to NFL stardom.

Basketball was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith

When Dr. James Naismith hung two peach baskets at either end of a Springfield College gymnasium, he was just looking to keep the school’s athletes occupied and safe during harsh New England winters, but the game he created would quickly turn out to be a national sensation.

Selling beer during college football games was once taboo, but it's now commonplace for the country's biggest teams.

Rivalry between the AFL and NFL led to a merger—and the creation of the Super Bowl

Competition between the American Football League and the National Football League led to a 1966 merger agreement, with the Super Bowl created as a championship game to determine league supremacy before the two leagues were fully integrated.

1440: The National Football League

Explore the best resources we found on the NFL

The SEC is a powerhouse conference with 16 teams and a rich Southern football tradition

Formed in 1933 after splitting from the Southern Conference, the Southeastern Conference began with 13 schools. It has since grown to 16 members, defining college football with numerous national championships and rabid regional rivalries.

The greatest games in NFL history

Do you remember “The Catch”? What about the “Immaculate Reception”? Did you watch when Elway finally got his ring? Take a trip down memory lane with this Bleacher Report list of the 50 greatest games in NFL history. Explore classic NFL moments dating back to the NFL’s early days in the 1930s and '40s to the present day.

The betting scandal that rocked college basketball

In the 1940s and '50s, illegal bookmaking in college basketball was rampant at Madison Square Garden. In the 1949-50 season, City College of New York players shaved points during games, though they played honestly in the NIT and NCAA tournaments, winning both. This OddsShark.com article explores how the points-shaving scandal was exposed, who went to jail, and its impact on the NIT and CCNY.

A 1930s card game birthed modern fantasy sports

"National Pastime" used the statistics of real Major League Baseball players to determine a winner, creating the template for the modern fantasy sports model.

The original basketball was hand-sewn

When the first basketball landed in a peach basket in 1891, it didn't look like the leather Wilson ball you see on today's NBA courts. The basketball evolved from the nondribbling days, when a hand-sewn ball with stitching like a football was used.

The first official Women's World Cup was in 1991

The first unofficial Women’s World Cup was played in 1970 in Italy, and momentum grew throughout the 1980s with multiple international tournaments. In 1988, FIFA tested the event's viability with a 12-team invitational in China. The first official Women’s World Cup was held in 1991 in China, and was won by the US.

How Title IX changed college basketball

Until Title IX was passed in 1972, the NCAA had little interest in women's sports because it didn't see them as profitable. This article explores how the AIAW was formed to govern women's basketball, and the massive fight the NCAA eventually put up to take over in 1982. Read about the legal battles it took, and how much money women's basketball is bringing to the NCAA now.

Pete Rozelle made football an American obsession

There have been eight NFL commissioners in the league’s 100-plus year history, but none of them changed the league quite like Pete Rozelle. This 1984 New York Times Magazine profile looks back at the substantial changes Rozelle brought to the league since he took the job in 1960, as well as the challenges he faced while in office.

The first official World Chess Championship was held in 1886

The inaugural world championship took place across New York, St. Louis and New Orleans in 1886, where Wilhelm Steinitz defeated Johannes Zukertort. Steinitz became the first recognized world champion, establishing the modern era of organized competitive chess.

Fantasy sports' roots go back to an 1860s parlor game that simulated real-world baseball.

A part-owner of the Oakland Raiders spearheaded the first fantasy football league.

The College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams in 2024.

The inventor of fantasy football first experimented with two other sports

In the mid-1950s, Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach, a part-owner of the Oakland Raiders, concocted two fantasy sports games: one for Major League Baseball and one for the Professional Golfers’ Association. In 1962, he invented fantasy football alongside two writers from the Oakland Tribune.

Before Title IX, boys competing in high school sports far outnumbered girls

In 1971, the year before Title IX was passed, about 294,000 girls were playing high school sports. That paled in comparison to the number of boys: 3.7M.

By the 1980s, fantasy football was a national activity

The Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League was a private league, but by the end of the ‘60s, a bar in Oakland opened the first public fantasy football league. Over the next few decades, the game grew more popular, as evidenced by this how-to article from a 1980 issue of “Inside Sports.”

The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry has roots in a 19th-century border dispute.

What is the NCAA First Four?

March Madness's play-in games—known as the First Four—whittle down the field from 68 to 64. This resource from the NCAA breaks down the history of the First Four, which began in 2011. The gears were in motion long before that, though, thanks to the addition of the Mountain West Conference to Division I, which necessitated more than 64 teams for the March Madness field.

Gatorade was first designed for college football players in Florida's heat.

College football bowl games boast some of sports' most absurd names

From the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to the Pop-Tarts Bowl, college football's postseason is filled with quirky, sponsor-driven names.

One fantasy football league has been running for over four decades

The Fantasy Football League began in 1980, before fantasy football was available online. The group, which began in Northern California, originally used a touchdown-only format because it was easier to score in the preinternet era.