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| Date | January 15, 1939 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | none selected | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 15,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | not televised | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1939 National Football League All-star Game was the professional football league's first-ever all-star game, sponsored by the Los Angeles Times as a charity game to benefit the Salvation Army.[1][2] It pitted the New York Giants, the league's champion for the 1938 season, against a team of all-stars. The game was played on Sunday, January 15, 1939, at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, California in front of 15,000 fans; although 30,000 spectators were expected, bad weather led to the poor attendance.[3] The Giants defeated the all-stars by a score of 13–10.[4]
The players on the all-star squad were selected by fan balloting. For the only time in the game's history, players from teams outside the NFL were invited; five players from the Los Angeles Bulldogs and Hollywood Stars, two local teams in what would eventually become the Pacific Coast Professional Football League, were among the members of the All-Star team.[5]
- ^ "Facts, Figures Regarding First Annual Pro Game". Los Angeles Times. January 8, 1939. Archived from the original on January 27, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ United Press (January 16, 1939). "Giants Defeat Pro All-Stars". Republican Herald. Archived from the original on January 27, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Crawford, Fred R. "The First Pro Bowl Game" (PDF). The Coffin Corner. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
- ^ "Giants Beat Stars; Ward Cuff Is Hero". Milwaukee Journal. UP. January 16, 1939. p. L-7. Archived from the original on April 24, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2012 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Giants Meet All-Stars in Last of Bowl Games". Milwaukee Journal. UP. January 15, 1939. p. 7 (section III). Retrieved February 2, 2012.