HBO Archives® announces the launch of The Classic Sports Collection, the newest addition to its clip licensing library. This extensive collection is comprised of a wide variety of professional and amateur sporting events that originally aired on HBO beginning in 1972. This material is available now for licensing to all types of productions, including documentaries, feature films, corporate presentations and museum exhibitions.nnWhen HBO first launched, the majority of the original programming was sports. “We had arrangements in place to produce programming for most major and minor sports. The Classic Sports Collection comes from the diversity of that programming. We are excited to make this memorable footage available to the production community for the first time,” said Robert Zeiss, Vice President, HBO Archives. The footage has been newly transferred from aging 1″ and 2″ reels that have not been seen for decades. The collection contains basketball, hockey, soccer, gymnastics, boxing, skating, track and field, swimming and diving, wrestling, body-building, bowling, skiing, tennis, rodeo, mixed martial arts and even national horse and dog shows.nn
nnHighlights form the collection include basketball Hall-of-Famers, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird from their college days, three-time boxing champion, Alexis Arguello, bowling legend Earl Anthony, all-time tennis great, Martina Navratilova and Olympians Mary Lou Retton and Greg Louganis. One of the more unusual events is the 1979 Gold Skate Classic, the leading roller skate competition of the time.nnHonored with virtually every major programming award including the Emmy’s®, Oscars®, Golden Globes® and Peabody’s, HBO has long been known for its uncompromising commitment to quality and innovation in live event programming, journalism and storytelling. HBO Archives is a full-service stock footage library for commercial/professional media use. In addition to The Vintage Sports Collection collection, the library also offers sports, contemporary stock, entertainment news, archival and royalty-free wildlife footage. The footage available is wide-ranging, culled from images shot around the globe covering more than three decades. Images from these impressive collections are available for licensing directly through HBO Archives.nnThe website offers, high-speed dual footage & text searches, as well as the ability to view and download video clips. nnLearn more at www.hboarchives.com/contemporary, or call 877-426-1121 toll-free, or email footage@hboarchives.com.
