Author Topic: A 'Sports Challenge' fan wants it back (Read 8319 times)

DrBear · « **on:** April 19, 2013, 05:55:00 PM »

Here\'s a piece from a TV blog with fond memories of Sports Challenge.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #1 on:** April 19, 2013, 06:52:54 PM »

I have fond memories of Sports Challenge as well. In fact, mine are a little more accurate. (The show was syndicated, with only a brief network run one summer.) The author comes at this as a game show fan more than as a sports fan, but definitely as a fan, and one who really doesn\'t demonstrate a very sophisticated grasp of how the industry works today.

He also states as fact that the reason the reruns didn\'t last longer is that the NFL and MLB made a stink over rights to the clips. That\'s something I\'d never heard before. He may just be copying that from an unsourced Wikipedia reference, which is the only other place I\'ve been able to find this mentioned. Anybody know if that\'s for real or not?

JasonA1 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 19, 2013, 07:54:11 PM »

Picked out one of the author\'s articles to read...it said Nickelodeon\'s Double Dare took \"the set design and half its premise from Family Feud.\" I don\'t think I\'ll be clicking through to the Sports Challenge piece.

-Jason

PYLdude · « **Reply #3 on:** April 19, 2013, 08:08:53 PM »

Yes, because every episode of Family Feud involved an obstacle course.

Chief-O · « **Reply #4 on:** April 19, 2013, 08:14:53 PM »

I, for one, would love to find out where he got the blurb about Dick Enberg buying the rights to the show. [ETA: Perhaps Wikipedia? Citation needed!]

Did enjoy the heck out of ESPN Classic\'s reruns approx. 10 years ago.

/who does own the rights these days? ESPN? [ETA: Yes, I know the WP article says Disney, but it does state \"presumably\"!]

PYLdude · « **Reply #5 on:** April 19, 2013, 09:47:39 PM »

Pretty sure ESPN does own the rights considering they were still showing episodes a few years ago (IIRC).

snowpeck · « **Reply #6 on:** April 20, 2013, 08:25:23 AM »

Pretty sure ESPN does own the rights considering they were still showing episodes a few years ago (IIRC).

It aired on ESPN Classic as recently as 2011, so I would assume so as well.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #7 on:** April 20, 2013, 10:12:44 AM »

Always thought of Sports Challenge as \"The Movie Game\" of sports. Same format, set design, etc.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #8 on:** April 20, 2013, 11:15:17 AM »

I loved the reruns on ESPN Classic too (or when it was Classic Sports Network)...especially the original bombastic theme song. I\'m kinda surprised it hasn\'t made a comeback, even if it used nothing but clips from the ESPN era.

Of course it all comes down to the rights; for example, does ESPN still show Sabol NFL Films, or is that exclusively on the NFL Network?

That Don Guy · « **Reply #9 on:** April 20, 2013, 02:42:53 PM »

Sports Challenge could probably be done today - but can you get enough teams together of players that people care about in order to do it?

The other problem would be, what producer would take it on without trying to turn it into a big-money quiz? (For example, each team plays for a contestant, and the winner plays a final question similar to how 2 Minute Drill worked.)

TLEberle · « **Reply #10 on:** April 20, 2013, 04:19:46 PM »

It offends me that this gal can write so badly and have so many columns published.

PYLdude · « **Reply #11 on:** April 20, 2013, 04:34:40 PM »

Honestly I think Sports Challenge could work with civilians just as well. But that\'s my opinion.

Bob Zager · « **Reply #12 on:** April 23, 2013, 03:06:50 PM »

When you click the following link, you will find some of the SC quiz records from around 1977, plus a couple of individual SC disks for the Mattel \"Instant Replay\" device from 1971:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Vintage-Sports-Memorabilia-/50123/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=%22sports+challenge%22

However, at this next link, is the \"Instant Replay\" compatible disks, in an unopened package (with a \"Buy it Now\" option price of $400!):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-1971-Mattel-Instant-Replay-Sports-Challenge-Double-sided-Record-Sealed-/111046244574?pt=US_Hockey_Trading_Cards&hash=item19dadf38de#ht_54wt_1085

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #13 on:** April 24, 2013, 04:56:48 PM »

However, at this next link, is the \"Instant Replay\" compatible disks, in an unopened package (with a \"Buy it Now\" option price of $400!):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-1971-Mattel-Instant-Replay-Sports-Challenge-Double-sided-Record-Sealed-/111046244574?pt=US_Hockey_Trading_Cards&hash=item19dadf38de#ht_54wt_1085

For us game show fans, the only thing that distinguishes that set from this one or this one is the Sports Challenge branding. And while that\'s certainly an interesting factor, I don\'t think it makes the value of the first piece more than ten times greater than the other two. On the other hand, people are trying to sell single out-of-the-package discs for nearly a hundred bucks.

I\'m also intrigued, from a Mattel marketing standpoint, as to why the two sets I linked above clearly feature different athletes, yet both are packaged as \"Football Stars 1\"