[Mark]

I was at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first Super Bowl. There were quite a few empty seats back then. Maybe a lot of people thought the idea would not take hold.

[Roccus]

IIRC, that game was blacked-out in the LA area (300 miles?) so if you lived there, the only way to see it was in person.

[gunsequalfreedom]

That pre-dates me. I go back as far as the Roman Gabriel, Rosey Grier, Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones days but was young then.

[foreverfree]

Perhaps, but the merger was only announced in early June of '66. That left seven months to prepare for and hype the game, during which Rozelle had to scramble like Tarkenton to a) secure a Congressional monopoly exemption and b) secure a site.

He wanted a warm site, being from L.A. himself. (The first six NFLCG's in Pete's commissionership took place in frigid weather, even in 1962 in NYC, not known for Packer weather - maybe that's why GB won that day.). Rozelle wanted the Rose Bowl for SB I. The Pasadena city fathers and the ToR cmte. didn't want pro football played on their hallowed patch. So Rozelle settled for the LAMC thanks to his Ram connections, and the site was announced only about a month before the game.

That left not a lot of time to properly hype America's new sports tradition.

ff