1974 WFL Season
As originally written by GCEDW:
This post seeks to cover the television coverage for the first season of the fledgling World Football League. TVS held national rights for the league in its first season, and covered the league with games on Thursday nights. Merle Harmon and Alex Hawkins served as the TVS broadcasters. In addition, HBO showed games to its subscribers on Wednesday nights. The composition of the league at the outset was as follows:
Florida Blazers
Philadelphia Bell
Jacksonville Sharks (folded after week 14)
New York Stars (moved to Charlotte in week 14 and became the Hornets the next week)
Memphis Southmen
Birmingham Americans
Chicago Fire
Detroit Wheels (folded after week 14)
Southern California Sun
The Hawaiians
Portland Storm
Houston Texans (moved to Shreveport in week 12 and became the Steamer)
National Television
Regular Season
Wed 7/10, Storm-Bell, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 7/11, Stars-Sharks, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, George Plimpton
Wed 7/17, Americans-Stars, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 7/18, Storm-Southmen, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Alex Karras
Wed 7/24, Sharks-Stars, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 7/25, Stars-Bell, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Jane Chastain
August
Thu 8/1, Sun-Southmen, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Don Perkins
Wed 8/7, Southmen-Bell, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 8/8, Hawaiians-Sharks, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Paul Hornung
Wed 8/14, Storm-Stars, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 8/15, Sun-Texans, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, McLean Stevenson
Wed 8/21, Texans-Stars, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 8/22, Fire-Wheels, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Gale Sayers
Wed 8/28, Wheels-Bell, HBO, 8:00. Spencer Ross, Barbara Sheehan
Thu 8/29, Americans-Fire, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Alex Karras
September
Thu 9/5, Bell-Sharks, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Rosey Grier
Fri 9/6, Blazers-Stars, HBO, 8:00.
Wed 9/11, Sharks-Bell, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 9/19, Steamer-Americans, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Paul Hornung
Tue 9/24, Wheels-Stars, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 9/26, Fire-Blazers, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Don Perkins
October
Wed 10/2, Blazers-Bell, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 10/3, Stars-Fire, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Dick Butkus
Thu 10/10, Steamer-Sun, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Burt Reynolds
Thu 10/24, Southmen-Storm, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Virgil Carter
Thu 10/31, Sun-Hornets, HBO, 8:00.
Thu 10/31, Storm-Steamer, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Paul Hornung
November
Thu 11/7, Fire-Southmen, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins
Thu 11/14, Blazers-Sun, TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Jack Kemp
Playoffs
November
Thu 11/21, Bell-Blazers (quarterfinal), TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Paul Hornung
Thu 11/28, Blazers-Southmen (semifinal), TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Virgil Carter
December
Thu 12/5, Blazers-Americans (World Bowl I), TVS, 9:00. Merle Harmon, Alex Hawkins, Virgil Carter
Local TV/Radio Info
As originally written by cowboybud
Found this while researching Cowboys' announcers/flagships for the preseason thread (coming soon!). Source:
http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1974/1974-07-22-BC.pdf
Florida Blazers - WKIS-AM Orlando, Stan Savran, Mick Andrews; WFTV Orlando, Lee Watson
Jacksonville Sharks - WPDQ-AM, Jay Solomon; WJXT Mike Patrick, Dick Stratton
New York Stars - WMCA-AM, John Sterling; (W)WOR, Sal Marciano, George Plimpton, Matt Snell
Philadelphia Bell - WIBG-AM, Joe Pellegrino, Charley Neal; WPHL Announcers not listed
Detroit Wheels - WWJ-AM, Don Kremer, Mike Lucci; WKBD Announcers not listed
Memphis Southmen - WLOK-AM, Dick Palmer, Bill Haney; WMC Announcers not listed
Hawaii Hawaiians - KGMB-AM, Mel Proctor; KITV Jim Leahy, Jeff Temkin
Houston Texans - KTRH-AM, Jerry Trupiano, Bob Talamini; KHTV (KIAH) Simulcast
Portland Storm - KEX-AM, Jimmy Jones, Darrell Aune; KPTV Announcers not listed
Southern California Sun - KLAC-AM, Tom Harmon; KTTV Simulcast
Chicago Fire – WJJD-FM, Eddie Doucette, Mike Pyle; WGN-9, Vince Lloyd, Bill Berg (all non-TVS road games)