College Football, 1884
Major college football is big business. Each autumn weekend millions of fans pack stadiums around the country to root for their favorite team. Millions more watch on television. A major college football program, such as Ohio State, Notre Dame or Texas, generates big bucks - an average of over 29 million dollars annually with some topping 50 million dollars a year.
It all started shortly after the Civil War when students at a few eastern colleges combined elements from rugby and soccer to make a new game they called football. Students at Princeton led the way in 1867 by establishing the first rules for the game. The first intercollegiate game was played in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers. The game was taken up by the Ivy League schools and by 1873 an agreed-upon set of rules was established. Football was on its way to becoming the dominate college sport.
Amos Alonzo Stagg contributed much to the development of the sport and remains a football legend. He entered Yale in 1884 as a divinity student which qualified him for a reduction in tuition from $50.00 to $39.80 per semester. He was a natural athlete whose skill on the baseball diamond was a major factor in his admission.
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