Today's Tidbit... NCAA Film Services and the March of Technology

Ed Sabol founded Blair Motion Pictures in 1962 and quickly won the bid to film and develop highlights of the 1962 NFL championship game. His work impressed Pete Rozelle, who convinced the league owners to buy Sabol's firm and convert it into what became NFL Films.

When Blair Motion Pictures was born, the less-well-recognized NCAA Films, now NCAA Productions, had been around for at least a decade. Much of the first decade of NCAA Films focused on filming and showing NCAA championships in the dozen or more sports then sponsored by the NCAA. After editing and narrating the films, they were made available for showing by television stations, NCAA member schools, high schools, and civic organizations.

By the early 1960s, NCAA Films also produced instructional and informational films covering officiating best practices, coaching drills, techniques, and their hallmark, The Football Code of Champions, in addition to their weekly and annual highlight films.

Best Football Plays of 1963, NCAA Films (Personal collection)

The 1963 season highlights were 13.5 minutes long and included slow-motion, diagrams showing player assignments, and sound.