Evening star., 1952-01-18
Pay-as-You-See
Tv Considered
For Pro Football
Schedule for 1852,
Team ReoIignment
Also High on Agendo
By Lewis F. Atchison
Sfor Staff Correspondent

parlor fans paying for the priv
ilege of watching pro football
games at home, was one possible
solution to the battling TV prob
lem which National Football
League club owners expected to
take up today as they resumed
their midwinter meeting here.
Routine reports by Commits
sioner Bert Bell and other league
Officials were scheduled as the
owners reconvened after drafting
300 college players at yesterdays
opening session. After that they'll
tackle TV. a major headache, the
always difficult schedule for next
season. and a proposed re-align-
ment of conferences.
Varied and violent differences
Iof opinion on all three issues may
keep the group here until Sunday.
See TV Demonstration.
Today's meeting was to be in
terrupted this afternoon while the
IL owners and their aides attended
a demonstration of Skyatron TV.
Tomorrow they'll witness a dem
onstration of Zenith Phonovision
and also hear a discussion of the
legal problems involved.
Milton King, vice president of
the Redskins and prominent
Washington attorney who repre-
sented the league in conferences
with the Justice Department, is
due here tomorrow to explain the
legal aspects.
Although Commissioner Bell
said the TV problem was so in
volved he wouldn't attempt to ex-
plain all it's ramifications, Sky
atron and Phonovision boil down
to the simple matter of each set
owner paying to see the game be-
ling televised. The clubs want to
protect their territorial rights
from invasion by air, and the
Government is determined to pro-
|tect the public from any monopoly.
Fans Eventually Will Pay.
It's a touchy problem but it
seems that stay-at-homes even
tually win have to pay for their
games, The enly other alterna-
tive If the Justice Department
cracks down, according to reliable
sources here, is to take the games
off TV altogether.
George Halas, the Chicago
Bears owner coach, wants a
Iround-robin schedule next year
Instead of the traditional home
land home series among confer
ence rivals. AS now set up, the
leagues constitution calls for
home -and-home series, with two
nter-conference games. Halas
would have return games only
with "favoriteo- rivals, which in
his case would be the Cardinals.
George Marshall, Redskins
president. will oppose this plan
and has enough support, he be-
lieves, to defeat it. Marshall gave
up a return game with the Cleve-
land Browns last year to permit
Cleveland to visit the coast.
Wants Browns Game.
But he will insist on a return
to the home-and-home arrange
ment, with the Browns playing at
Griffith Stadium.
Ted Collins, owner of the Bos-
ton Yanks, limited broadly he may
finally make good his oft-repeated
threat to walk out of the league
unless he gets better home playing
dates.
"You can say this is it," he
said. Il am going to get six home
dates-or else. There are a lot
of other people in this league who
are behind me because they be-
lieve in fair play"
Asked whether his cor else''
ultimatum meant he was prepared
to sell the Yanks' franchise if his
demands were not met, Collins
merely shrugged his shoulders and
replied:
I'm doing pretty well in tele-
vision"
Lost $35O,0O0.
The Yanks lost approximately
E$350.000 last year.
There seems to be little chance
of rearranging the conference at
this meeting. Opinion is divided
concerning the potential benefits
OF a new alignment of the teams
and with a 1912 vote necessary
to make change it is almost a
foregone conclusion that the
memberships will be unchanged.
One of the strongest arguments
against the round-robin was that
it would replace the champion
ship playoff with Shaughnessy
playoff among the four top
teams. Such a plan was tried by
the All-America- Conference and
wasn't successful, financial or
otherwise.