Inside the Shriner's Children's East-Bowl's History on Over-The-Air Television

This January, a college all-star game will air on broadcast television for the first time since the 2001 Blue-Gray Classic. Yesterday, Ion and Scripps Sports announced it would air the Shriners Children’s East-West Bowl nationally on February 4th of next year. This is the first time the East-West Bowl (formerly the East-West Shrine Game) will air on broadcast television since 1990, when ABC aired the game.

Unsurprisingly, the oldest college football all-star game has a long, meandering history on broadcast television. After the 1949 and 1950 games first aired on television locally in the San Francisco area, the 1951 game went national on the DuMont Network. Four years later, NBC took on broadcasting duties beginning with the 1955 game.

NBC held on to broadcasting duties until 1968, when ABC obtained rights to the game as part of an $11.3 million package for the NCAA’s college football TV rights. ABC held the rights until it declined to air the 1972 game. Sports syndicator Hughes Television then aired the 1972 and 1973 Shrine Bowls.

In December of 1974, NBC returned to broadcasting the Shrine Game after a seven-year hiatus. The following season, the Shrine Game did not air on television to boost in-person attendance. In January of 1977, the game returned to television through syndication and remained that way for the December 1977 edition.

CBS signed on for the January 1979 East-West Shrine Game and aired it until 1985, making it the game’s longest-running broadcast partner since NBC. After CBS’ stint, the game returned to syndication through Mizlou from 1985 to 1988. ABC took on broadcast duties from 1989 to 1990, before ESPN ended the East-West Shrine Game’s broadcast television stint for over three decades.

The Shriner’s Children’s East-West Bowl’s return to broadcast television marks a return to the glory days of college football all-star games when they were a focal point of network television. When fans tune in on Ion and Scripps Sports stations across the country, they will take part in a tradition that stretches back over 75 years.