Only One Known Tape of Super Bowl I In Existence

Published on May 30th, 2022 3:!7 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Story of one of the most important video tapes in existence. On January 15th, 1967, Barr Starr led the Green Bay Packers to a 35-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl I.

The event was simulcast by NBC and CBS.

This was a different time, and nobody knew how big the NFL would eventually become. There was no Youtube, no Internet and VCRs hadn't become popular with the mainstream public as of yet.

Incredibly, the league didn't preserve a copy of the game.

That's right - there was no known copy of the first ever Super Bowl.

-

There was no known copy of Super Bowl I until it turned up in the home of Beth Rebuck, who was married to Martin Haupt.

Martin Haupt just happened to work at a television station in Scranton, and he recorded the game on a Quadruplex taping machine at the station. He thought this his son, Marin Haupt, might one day get a kick out of owning the tape.

This is how the "Holy Grail" of television programming was discovered - in an attic where it had been sitting for forty years.

-

Haupt, a nurse anesthetist in North Carolina, was informed that the tape was likely worth a significant sum. According to a Sports Illustrated article, any tape in existence would likely be worth north of $1 million.

Haupt contacted the NFL, asking if they wanted to buy it off of him. He figured that the league would offer him a handsome sum and the saga would be over.

Instead, according to reports, the NFL offered just $30,000 for the tape that was supposedly worth over $1 million.

The NFL also informed Haupt that if he tried to profit off of the video tape, they'd stop him, as they owned the copyright.

-

The two sides could never come to a deal. There was an attempt to crowdfund the purchase of the tape in order to stream it online for free, though the project didn't raise enough funds.

Haupt eventually contacted the Paley Center for Media about possibly restoring the tape. The two sides worked together to restore the tapes, and it was shown a few years ago at the Center, with the backing of the NFL.

Haupt, however, still owns the original tapes. The Center has a copy, though it can not show the game without Haupt's permission.

Private collectors are likely hesitant to try and purchase the tape, as they would likely incur the wrath of the NFL if they did.

-

The tape wasn't perfect, as you can imagine after sitting in an attic for decades.

The world has changed a tremendous amount over the past 50 years, as evidenced by this saga.

The Super Bowl is now the most-watched sporting event in the world, and just 50 years ago, there was no thought given to preserve the recording of the game.

Related Articles