Evolution of Sports in America (1880s - 1990s)

First baseball game to accept admission from fans.

Jul 20, 1858

Baseball Eden
Fans paid to attend a baseball game between two teams in the New York City area at Fashion Rack Course in Queens. <ahref='http://https://baseballeden.com/Brooklyn_Nine__1858.html' >Baseball Eden</a>

NCAA was formed to govern college athletics

Nov 11, 1906

NCAA was formed to govern college athletics Sport Haven

First athlete (Lou Gerhig) appeared on Wheaties cereal box.

Jan 1, 1934

Pop History Dig' >www.pophistorydig.com/?tag=lou-gehrig-wheaties' >Pop History Dig</a></a>First athlete (Lou Gerhig) appeared on Wheaties cereal box.

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed.

Mar 3, 1943

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed due to many Major League Baseball players serving in WWII. Baseball Reference

Babe Didrickson Zaharias to an endorsement contract.

Mar 15, 1949

NY TimesWilson Sporting Goods signed golfer Babe Didrickson Zaharias to an endorsement contract for $100,000 per year.

Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports

Jul 5, 1964

Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports on an investment of $1,000. The name of the company is changed to Nike in 1972.
Nike Repositry

Rich Foods buys naming right to the Buffalo Bill football stadium.

Sep 10, 1973

Issues with Sports</a>Rich Foods pays $60,000/year for the naming rights to the Buffalo Bills football stadium. <a href='http://issueswithsports.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-marketing-changed.html' >

US boycotts Olympics in Moscow.

Mar 21, 1980

In 1980, the United States led a boycott of the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow to protest the late 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. History of the Olympics

Olympics become commercialized

Jul 28, 1984

The commercialization of the Olympics:Cities, corporations and the Olympic commodity

Olympic Park in Atlanta, GA is bombed.

Jul 27, 1996

Olympic Park in Atlanta, GA is bombed. History of the Olympics