The First Televised World Series

The 1947 World Series between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers began on September 30 as the first World Series broadcast on television, reaching viewers on the small number of sets then in the New York area as well as in bars and public spaces set up to show the games.

The series was historic beyond its broadcast: it was the first to include a Black player, Jackie Robinson, who had debuted with the Dodgers that April, the first to feature a pinch-hit home run, the first to use six umpires instead of the traditional four, and the first to generate more than $2 million in gate receipts.

The Yankees won the series in seven games. Television's role in the series is now seen as an early step toward the medium's eventual transformation of how the sport is consumed and marketed.