Tor! (Goal!) traces the extraordinary story of Germany’s club and international football, from the days when it was regarded as a dangerously foreign pastime, through the horrors of the Nazi years, to the postwar triumphs, the World Cup victories, and all the way up to the present day. While there have been some dominant teams in the league and a few dynasties, the revenue sharing, scheduling, and now salary caps, which keep the teams on a somewhat even playing field, has helped maintain interest in the game.Germany did not have professional players or a national league until the 1960s, yet it became one of the most successful football nations in the world.

Television thrust the game into the national spotlight and keeps it there. The game of football, more so than baseball, is a sport made for television. There are a few key themes in this book about why professional football became the dominant sport it is today.įirst, and foremost, is television. The merger, in fact, made the NFL even stronger. Interestingly, Lamar Hunt, late owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, was the pivotal figure in both the creation of the AFL and the eventual merger. The book also discusses Pete Rozelle reaping millions in television revenue, how he helped foster a revenue sharing agreement between big-market and small-market teams, keeping competitive balance, and maintaining relative labor peace compared to other sports.Īnother very interesting and pivotal part of NFL history was its competition with the American Football League in the 1960’s and how a group of maverick owners created a rival, viable league of its own, and how the eventual merger of the NFL and AFL came about. Much is discussed about the first commissioner Bert Bell, who held a motley collection of owners together and strived for parity in the league.

While it is about the game itself, it’s more about the business of professional football and the importance of decisions made by those who ran it, leading to a thriving game and a thriving business enterprise. For the most part this is a very linear history of the Nation Football League, and a very well done one.

Tor football book