NFL helps to squash CBS interview with owner of Super Bowl I tape

We’ve chronicled the tale of the elusive Super Bowl I tape that sits dormant in storage in upstate New York. Since 2005 when the tape of the original CBS broadcast was “found”, the only one known to exist, the owner and the NFL have been at odds over compensation. The man who was hoping to have the tape played in conjunction with Super Bowl 50 is finding how powerful the NFL can be when it comes to conflicts.

Troy Haupt came forward to the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir as the owner of the tape. For years, Haupt’s identity had been kept anonymous with his lawyer speaking for him in various interviews. But he was hoping this year, the year of Super Bowl 50 to commemorate the finding of the tape and to tell his story so the NFL and the American people would understand why it can’t be seen.

Some background here: Haupt’s father, Martin, recorded the game on January 15, 1967 off the CBS Television Network feed and kept the tapes at his home. This is when home video recorders didn’t exist and networks didn’t cherish keeping archives of their material.

When he was dying with cancer, Martin who had divorced from his wife and since remarried, gave her the tapes. She put the tapes in her attic where they sat for years until 2005 when Haupt got a call from a friend who read a Sports Illustrated article stating that if found, the value of the Super Bowl I tape could be worth $1 million.

Through various channels, Haupt sent the tape to the Paley Center in New York where it was restored. Haupt was hoping to sell the tape to the NFL. However, the league lowballed with a $30,000 offer and has since not offered to pay anything at all.

Last month, NFL Network aired reconstructed NFL Films footage of Super Bowl I trying to show that they don’t need the original tape.

Last week, the story of the tape took another turn when Haupt found that a deal with CBS for an interview and a chance to tell his story fell through. According to Haupt, CBS was going to pay him $25,000 and give him two tickets to Super Bowl 50. A producer was going to watch the tape at the Paley Center and do a story on the whole saga.

However, Haupt’s lawyer told the Times that the NFL squashed CBS’ payment offer to his client. Haupt said he would not do it for free. And so we’re back to square one.

A CBS Sports spokesperson told the Times and Awful Announcing: “We elected not to do the feature because we could not get all the appropriate clearances.”

An NFL spokesman told the Times, “We didn’t tell them not to do it. We didn’t talk to CBS about the payment.”

So unless there’s some type of agreement between Haupt and the NFL, the tape will remain in storage and away from public eyes. This is unfortunate because there’s interest in seeing the original CBS tape and it’s not that the NFL doesn’t have the money to pay for it.

Maybe we’ll get to see the footage, but for now, we have to make due with what the NFL Network aired last month.

[New York Times]