first night games for current teams

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first night games for current teams
Started by smith03, Sep 20 2014 04:43 PM

14 replies to this topic

#1 smith03
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Posted 20 September 2014 - 04:43 PM
A lot is made of when baseball started playing night games but what about pro football? wondering if there is a list of the first regular season night games for the current NFL teams?

I believe for the Vikings the first night game was Saturday Oct 9, 1965 at home against the Giants.

The game was moved to Saturday night due to the '65 World Series.

#2 BD Sullivan
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Posted 20 September 2014 - 06:23 PM
The Browns wasted no time, either in the AAFC or NFL, since both of their inaugural games in 1946 (Miami Seahawks) and 1950 (Philadelphia Eagles) were played at night.

#3 smith03
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Posted 20 September 2014 - 06:25 PM
also when the browns return in 1999.

The Houston Texans first game was a sunday night game

#4 Timmy B
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Posted 20 September 2014 - 10:22 PM
The Steelers first night game was their very first game in 1933, playing as the Pirates. They played on Wednesday night, September 20, 1933, under portable lights at Forbes Field, where they lost to the Giants, 23-2.

#5 BD Sullivan
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Posted 20 September 2014 - 11:33 PM
Here are the post 1960 teams' first night games in ALL CAPS--minus the aforementioned Vikings, new Browns and Texans:

*9/9/60: DENVER AT BOSTON
*9/10/60: DALLAS TEXANS (Now KC) AT LA (now SD) CHARGERS
9/16/60: Dallas at OAKLAND
9/17/60: Boston at NY TITANS
9/23/60: BUFFALO at Boston
*9/24/60: Pittsburgh at DALLAS
11/25/60: HOUSTON at Boston
*9/2/66: Oakland at MIAMI
*9/6/68: CINCINNATI at San Diego
9/14/68: ATLANTA at Minnesota
9/25/72: Kansas City at NEW ORLEANS
9/24/77: Minnesota at TAMPA BAY
10/29/79: SEATTLE at Atlanta
9/25/95: Green Bay at JACKSONVILLE
11/26/95: CAROLINA at New Orleans
10/13/96: BALTIMORE at Indianapolis

*First game(s)

Looks like 10 more to go

#6 Citizen
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Posted 21 September 2014 - 10:33 AM
The first Packers night game I have a record of is Wednesday night game against the Cardinals at Civic Stadium in Buffalo on 9-28-38.

According to the PFHOF the 11-6-29 game between the Cardinals and Providence was the first night game in the NFL.

#7 LJP
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Posted 21 September 2014 - 02:15 PM
Earliest one that I have for the Bears is a 20:00 kickoff on 02-Oct-1930 in an exhibition against the Milwaukee Nighthawks at Borchert's Field.

They played a regular season night game on 22-Oct-1930 against the Portsmouth Spartans at Universal Stadium.
Still compiling kickoff times for games, so there may be earlier ones.

#8 luckyshow
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Posted 22 September 2014 - 01:32 AM
The New Yorlk Giants played the following night games in 1930:
9/17/1930 32-0 at Newark Tornadoes 10,000 Regular season game
9/24/1930 13-0 at Long Island Bulldogs, Dexter Park (the Bushwicks famous baseball park) 4,000 exhibition game
10/16/1930 25-12 win over Chicago Cardinals. This was at the Polo Grounds, so is first Giants night home game 15,000 attended
The 10/22/1930 game was also a planned night game at the Polo Grounds, but was postponed to 11/30 because the Giants did not want to play the game at night.
But on 10/29/1930 they beat the Newark Tornadoes in a Polo Grounds night game, 34-7 before only 5,000 A Wednesday night game,
11/5/1930, the Giants play their 5th night game of 1930, the 4th NFL one, at the Portsmouth Spartans, a 19-6 win.

They played no night games in 1931 or 1932

NY Giants 9/9/1933 pre-season exhibition game at Freeport Mumicipal Stadium, Giants W 24-0 v. All-Long Island Stars att.: 4,000
NY Giants 9/13/1933 pre-season exhibtion games at Staten Island Stapes (no longer an NFL team), Giants won 12-0, Thompson Stadium 4,500
Giants regular season:
9/20/1933 Giants 23-2 at Pittsburgh Pirates, Forbes Field 25,000 Ken Strong 33 yd. TD on interception return, Harry Newman 33-yd. TD pass, 30 yd. FG, 5 yd TD run (a Wednesday)
They played four in 1933, the last being a mid-season, mid-week exhibition game on 9/27/1933 at Indianapolis Indians, (Bush Stadium)

They would mostly play only night exhibition games. not NFL ones. These low level lights must have been easy to construct or bring in with trucks, one year the Giants played one of these night games at City Stadium, Perth Amboys, against the Perth Amboy Clovers.

#9 luckyshow
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Posted 22 September 2014 - 01:54 AM
A couple of defunct teams:

The NFL Brooklyn Dodgers first home night game at Ebbets Field, 11/6/1934, a 21-0 loss to the Chicago Cardinals, before 7,000
Their first NFL night game had been 9/24/1930 a 12-0 loss at the Portsmouth Spartans, before 16,500

An interesting night game played by the Brooklyn Dodgers was10/19/1932, a mid-season, Wednesday night charity exhibition game, before 23,000 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium: Chicago Bears 13- Bklyn. Dodgers 0.

The Staten Island Stapes first night game: was rained out twice and finally played 11/4/1931, at Thompson Stadium, 13-0 win over the Dodgers before only 3,500.

#10 Mark L. Ford
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Posted 22 September 2014 - 09:00 AM
smith03, on 20 Sept 2014 - 4:43 PM, said:
A lot is made of when baseball started playing night games but what about pro football? wondering if there is a list of the first regular season night games for the current NFL teams?

I believe for the Vikings the first night game was Saturday Oct 9, 1965 at home against the Giants.

The game was moved to Saturday night due to the '65 World Series.

That's interesting that the Vikings didn't play a night game-- either at home or on the road-- until their fifth season, and only then because they were forced to reschedule a day game. Metropolitan Stadium had lights, but they may have been more suitable for baseball than football, a situation that had been true in the Metrodome as well. I guess that Minnesota's weather may have been a factor, since the Twins would have had control of the dates on summer nights, and a night game wouldn't have been the first choice for October. As to the lack of night games in their first 30-odd road trips, I'm wondering how many night games the NFL had during the first half of the 60s.

#11 smith03
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Posted 22 September 2014 - 11:39 AM
After seeing how common it was for night games prior to the 60s, I am thinking I may double check the Vikings at least for road games, but by 1961 the NFL was pretty much just a Sunday afternoon affair.

The Oct 9 game was the first non Sunday game. So any night games prior to that would have to have been a sunday night game, which I don't think the NFL did until 1977.

#12 mwald
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Posted 22 September 2014 - 11:58 AM
smith03, on 22 Sept 2014 - 11:39 AM, said:
After seeing how common it was for night games prior to the 60s, I am thinking I may double check the Vikings at least for road games, but by 1961 the NFL was pretty much just a Sunday afternoon affair.

The Oct 9 game was the first non Sunday game. So any night games prior to that would have to have been a sunday night game, which I don't think the NFL did until 1977.

I didn't do a deep dive but I believe you're correct about the Vikings.

Regarding road games, I think the Vikings' first night game on the road was a game against the Rams in 1967.

#13 smith03
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Posted 22 September 2014 - 12:02 PM
a fun little fact about the 65 game, baseball (MLB) could have forced the Giants-Vikings out of the stadium all together out of concern for the grass had that happen the game would have been moved to Atlanta.

#14 luckyshow
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Posted 23 September 2014 - 11:26 AM
I think it's interesting how many played at night in 1930s under lousy lighting, sometimes with white balls. And not always with great attendance.
What type lights were Portsmouth using in their late 1920s night games?

Then when the lights improved greatly, the NFL rarely had night games (late 1940s, 1950s, 1960s). Probably because it was solidly a Sunday game by then? Because of eventual TV contracts?


Are there mainly two types of pro football historians? Full spectrum that encompass all ages, and the (what I call) the ESPN age? Or perhaps Monday Night Football age? Where Howard Cosell and Dandy Don maybe is the bright line divider

#15 Timmy B
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Posted 23 September 2014 - 09:57 PM
In the case of Pennsylvania based teams, it's rather simple. Before the day after Election Day, 1933, no sporting events could be held on Sundays, the infamous blue laws.

This not only affected the Pottsville Maroons and Frankford Yellow Jackets, but the Eagles and then Pirates. The Pittsburgh and Philadelphia NFL franchises were granted in 1933, with the provision that by season's end, they would be able to host Sunday afternoon games. Had the referendum been rejected by voters, who knows what would have happened to them?

PA's blue laws even affected baseball as until the 1934 season, the Pirates, Phillies and Athletics couldn't play a home game on Sunday due to the blue laws.