Sports Challenge

This was considered to be the granddaddy of all sports game shows.

Broadcast
Syndication - January 23, 1971-September 1979 CBS - May 20, 1973-September 9, 1973

Packager
Gary Gross Productions

Distributor
AITV

Host
Dick Enberg

Announcers
Johnny Gilbert Art James John Harlan

Music
Theme "Get Back" by Patrick Williams

Gameplay
Two popular professional sports teams consisting of three of it's players play a game of sports trivia.

The First Three Rounds
In the first three rounds, the teams were shown film clips of great moments in sports history. After each clip, host Enberg read a toss-up question about the clip to both teams. The first player on either team to ring-in had a chance to answer. A correct answer earned 20 points, but an incorrect answer gave the opposing team a chance to answer. The winner of the toss-up won control of the two "Extra Point/Free Throw" questions that follow; but if neither team won the toss-up, the "Extra Pointers/Free Throws" became toss-ups for both teams. On the follow-ups, each correct answer from the team in control scored 10 additional points, but an incorrect answer gave the opposing team a chance to answer the same question(s) for 20 points for themselves.

Classic Round
The fourth round question had no "Free Throws" but it did have one last film clip. Another thing different from the toss-ups in the first three rounds was that a correct answer from that question earned 30 points to the team who answered it correctly.

Bonus Biography
The final round of the game was called the "Bonus Biography" round. This was where a silhouette of a famous sports star appeared on-screen along with a clock set for 60 seconds (originally 90). Host Enberg (originally Gilbert) read clues to the identity of this sports figure in question. The first team to ring-in had a chance to identify the athlete. A correct answer won the Bonus Biography round, but an incorrect answer gave the opposing team a chance to hear the remaining clues with the right to answer at anytime. The winners of the Bonus Biography round scored one point for every second left on the clock.

The team with the most points at the end of the Bonus Biography round won the game. If the game ended in a tie, one final toss-up question which was about the Bonus Biography subject was asked. The first team to answer that question won the game.

The winning team won $1,000 in sporting goods for the charity for their choice, while the losing team won half the amount or $500 in sporting goods for the charity for their choice. In addition, both teams also won their final scores in dollars.