NFL: Steve Sabol and NFL Films

The death of Steve Sabol, President and co-founder, with his father Ed, of NFL Films, provides an apt moment to consider the one of the most successful marriages between sport and media. No league documents and mythologises itself like the NFL does. If Ed Sabol was a genius for the idea, Steve was the artistic genius who drove that idea forwards for 50 years.

Seeing the league's history in incredible detail has led to not only a greater understanding of the game, but it has immersed fans in the world of the NFL, and has undoubtedly helped the league's appeal. Imagine being able to hear what Alf Ramsey shouted to his players from the touchline, or what Bill Shankly said in his team talks. Those memories are only available to the few who were present, but in the NFL, documentaries like America's Game allow anyone to see Vince Lombardi or Bill Walsh run training sessions or shout in-game instructions.

In an era when many live sports broadcasts were not recorded for posterity, NFL Films created a perfect record of the league's modern era, in contrast with other competitions around the world. Footage of the greatest individual performance in the history of the NBA, Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game in 1962, does not exist, but every significant moment in NFL history since that same year that has been captured.

This remarkable archive allowed Steve Sabol and his colleagues to consistently produce revealing and insightful programming in quantities that other sports could not match. The detailed in-game footage has allowed pundits (for example on NFL Playbook) to provide in-depth technical analysis, that has led to an informed fanbase.

However, the output of NFL Films is not simply a record. Technical achievements aside, its biggest legacy is the creation of league's legend. Creative use of music, narration, and camera angles help not just replay matches, but tell stories. These techniques are standard today, but began with NFL Films. The use of film, rather than videotape, gives the action a cinematic quality, and the all-round effect is to make the NFL iconic.

If all this sounds self-important and overblown, that is also sometimes true, as it is of most sports broadcasting, but Sabol's work was not without a sense of humour.

What is most surprising about NFL Films is that more have not copied them. Today there are a few similar ventures, but none with the level of access, depth of archive footage, or artistic outlook. Few sports have the understanding of their own history that the NFL does. The lack of a quality record, and the lack of quality storytelling across other sports is part of the problem, and shows just how revolutionary and comprehensive Steve Sabol's achievements were.