An Ivy League match-up that saw Columbia battling with Princeton on the diamond made the airwaves, marking the first time a baseball game, or any American sporting match-up, had been broadcast
On May 17, 1939, the first televised baseball game was broadcast on NBC, with Princeton University defeating Columbia University 2-1
The broadcast marked a revolutionary moment not only for baseball but for the future of sports and television in America. The game was aired by experimental station W2XBS, which would later become NBC, from Princeton’s Class of 1895 Field in New Jersey. Only a few hundred television sets existed in the New York area at the time, meaning the audience was incredibly small by modern standards. Still, the event demonstrated the enormous potential of live sports on television.
The telecast featured pioneering announcer Bill Stern, who provided play-by-play coverage while a single camera captured the action from behind home plate. Viewers had to rely heavily on Stern’s descriptions because the picture quality was primitive and camera angles were limited. Despite those challenges, the novelty of seeing a live baseball game in their homes fascinated early audiences.
The historic broadcast came years before television became a household staple following World War II. What began as a modest college baseball game between Princeton University and Columbia University eventually paved the way for the multi-billion-dollar sports television industry that defines modern athletics today.
