Plot Synopsis

Using interviews with National Football League (NFL) team owners, football commentators, sports and business writers, former players, current and former league executives, and sports agents, this four-part special documents how the NFL grew from a business that lost money in the late 1940s to a league that ruled American pop culture and business. Each 60-minute episode highlights a different aspect of the league's business history, including: "Rise of a Colossus," which chronicles how the NFL used television to vault from the fourth most popular sport to the country's most watched games; "Labor Pains," documenting how NFL players and owners worked to create labor peace in the NFL's $9 billion industry; "Brand NFL," showing how the NFL turned its fall sport into a year-round, revenue-generating business; and "Super Sunday," delving into the transformation of Super Bowl Sunday into the biggest entertainment event on the American calendar.