{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6298f82a0567ea001241e383/6320cdf4f8ec070013e03bef?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"The Birth of the NFL","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6298f82a0567ea001241e383/1654719873387-44a3e0d22bab09958594fc24192f4947.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>September 17, 1920. Football in America has arrived. Team after team joins the growing landscape: the Muncie Flyers, the Rock Island Independents, the Decatur Staleys. While more teams are waiting in the wings, the on-field product is a bit of a mess.</p><p><br></p><p>Few fans are interested, players are on shaky contracts, and—maybe most importantly—the game itself is boring. At a car dealership in Canton, Ohio, team representatives are gathered today with the ambitious goal of fixing football.</p><p><br></p><p>Today, the precursor to the NFL is established. How did a small, underfunded football league, based largely in east coast cities and midwestern factory towns, morph into the NFL, a pop culture juggernaut that is now the richest sports league in the world?</p><p><br></p><p>Special thanks to our guests John Eisenberg, author of The League, and Ken Crippen, former executive director of the Professional Football Researcher's Association and founder/lead instructor of the Football Learning Academy.</p>","author_name":"The HISTORY® Channel"}