First Major Pro Football Game Played in Each State (Official and Unofficial)

Below is a listing of the first major pro football game played in each state. Includes exhibition games involving only one major pro football team.

Leagues Included: NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69)

First Major Pro Football Game Played in Each State

Legend: Type (Type of game played.  Exh = Exhibition | Off = Official Game)

Note: An official football game is one that counts in the standings (non-exhibition).

Columns can be sorted by clicking on the titles in the header.

State	City	Year	Date	Won/Tied		Lost/Tied	Score	Type
AL	Birmingham	1938	9/5	Chicago Bears	at	Southern All-Stars	32-18	Exh
AR	Pine Bluff	1922	12/17	Milwaukee Badgers	at	Pine Bluff	74-0	Exh
AZ	Phoenix	1934	2/14	Chicago Bears	at	Arizona All-Stars	55-0	Exh
CA	Pasadena	1921	1/15	Akron Pros	at	Tuffy Conn's All-Stars	13-7	Exh
CO	Denver	1936	1/1	Detroit Lions	at	Pro All-Stars	33-0	Exh
CT	New Haven	1920	12/5	Canton Bulldogs	at	Washington Glee Club	0-0	Off
DC	Washington	1921	10/9	Washington Senators	vs	Wilmington Collegians	33-0	Exh
DE	Wilmington	1937	8/19	Philadelphia Eagles	at	Wilmington Clippers	14-6	Exh
FL	Coral Gables	1925	12/25	Chicago Bears	at	Coral Gables Collegians	7-0	Exh
GA	Atlanta	1946	9/28	Brooklyn Dodgers	at	Miami Seahawks	17-7	Exh
HI	Honolulu	1932	12/26	Green Bay Packers	at	Kamehemeha Alumni	19-13	Exh
IA	Sioux City	1921	12/4	Sioux City	vs	Minneapolis Marines	10-0	Exh
IL	Rock Island	1920	9/26	Rock Island Independents	vs	St. Paul Ideals	48-0	Off
IN	Fort Wayne	1920	10/17	Fort Wayne Friars	vs	Columbus Panhandles	14-0	Off
KS	Wichita	1936	12/13	Brooklyn Dodgers	at	St. Louis Terriers	100-0	Exh
KY	Louisville	1921	10/16	Louisville Brecks	vs	New Albany Calumet Indians	13-7	Exh
LA	Shreveport	1922	12/28	Toledo Maroons	n	Milwaukee Badgers	17-0	Exh
MA	Boston	1925	12/9	Providence Steam Roller	vs	Chicago Bears	9-6	Off
MD	Baltimore	1921	12/10	Baltimore Pros	vs	Washington Senators	10-3	Exh
ME	Bangor	1959	9/5	New York Giants	vs	Green Bay Packers	14-0	Exh
MI	Detroit	1920	10/10	Detroit Heralds	vs	Cleveland Panthers	40-14	Off
MN	Minneapolis	1920	11/14	Decatur Staleys	at	Minneapolis Marines	3-0	Off
MO	Saint Louis	1923	9/30	St. Louis All-Stars	vs	Murphysboro	25-0	Exh
MS	Jackson	1969	8/16	Kansas City Chiefs	n	Cincinnati Bengals	23-7	Exh
NC	Charlotte	1933	12/17	Portsmouth Spartans	at	Charlotte Bantams	40-6	Exh
NE	Omaha	1923	10/28	Rock Island Independents	at	Omaha Olympics	22-6	Exh
NH	Manchester	1934	9/23	Boston Redskins	at	Manchester Pros	83-0	Exh
NJ	Atlantic City	1923	12/16 *	Canton Bulldogs	at	Atlantic City Roses	27-0	Exh
NM	Albuquerque	1961	8/26	New York Giants	at	Dallas Cowboys	28-10	Exh
NV	Las Vegas	1964	8/29	Oakland Raiders	vs	Houston Oilers	34-20	Exh
NY	Buffalo	1920	10/3	Buffalo All-Americans	vs	West Buffalo	32-6	Off
NY	Rochester	1920	10/3	Rochester Jeffersons	vs	All-Buffalo	10-0	Off
OH	Canton	1920	10/3	Canton Bulldogs	vs	Pitcairn Quakers	48-0	Off
OH	Akron	1920	10/3	Akron Pros	vs	Wheeling Collegians	43-0	Off
OH	Dayton	1920	10/3	Dayton Triangles	vs	Columbus Panhandles	14-0	Off
OK	Tulsa	1922	12/30	Oklahoma All-Stars	vs	Toledo Maroons	0-0	Exh
OR	Portland	1926	1/30	Chicago Bears	at	Portland All-Stars	60-3	Exh
PA	Philadelphia	1920	12/11	Union A.A.	vs	Canton Bulldogs	13-7	Off
RI	Providence	1924	11/9	Providence Steam Roller	vs	Rochester Jeffersons	3-0	Exh
SC	Columbia	1953	9/9	Pittsburgh Steelers	at	Washington Redskins	21-14	Exh
SD	Sioux Falls	1961	8/5	Dallas Cowboys	at	Minnesota Vikings	38-13	Exh
TN	Memphis	1929	11/23	Chicago Bears	at	Memphis Tigers	39-19	Exh
TX	Dallas	1922	12/25	Toledo Maroons	at	Southwestern All-Stars	3-0	Exh
UT	Ogden	1944	8/30	Washington Redskins	n	Brooklyn Tigers	14-7	Exh
VA	Richmond	1920	12/18	Canton Bulldogs	at	Richmond A.C.	39-0	Off
WA	Seattle	1926	1/31	Chicago Bears	at	Washington All-Stars	34-0	Exh
WI	Green Bay	1921	9/25	Green Bay Packers	vs	Chicago Boosters	13-0	Exh
WV	Wheeling	1921	11/13	Columbus Panhandles	at	Wheeling Pros	0-0	Exh
WY	Cheyenne	1944	9/10	Fort Warren	vs	Brooklyn Tigers	21-20	Exh

* – It’s been documented that the New York (Brooklyn) Brickley Giants played the Orange Athletic Club in Orange, New Jersey on November 26th, 1921. But a game result/score has never been confirmed for this game. If it is ever confirmed, it would be the first major  pro football game played in the state of New Jersey.

The states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and Vermont have never hosted a major pro football game.

 

Many of the games listed above only included one major pro football participant. Listed below are the first major pro vs. major pro games in each state.

First Pro Football Game (Major Pro vs. Major Pro) Played in Each State

Columns can be sorted by clicking on the titles in the header.

State	City	Year	Date	Won/Tied		Lost/Tied	Score	Type
AL	Birmingham	1948	9/11	Green Bay Packers	n	Washington Redskins	43-0	Exh
AR	Little Rock	1949	9/10	Los Angeles Rams	n	Philadelphia Eagles	24-24	Exh
AZ	Tucson	1954	9/15	San Francisco 49ers	vs	Pittsburgh Steelers	37-14	Exh
CA	San Francisco	1927	1/9	Los Angeles Buccaneers	vs	Duluth Eskimos	19-0	Exh
CO	Denver	1937	1/1	Green Bay Packers	n	Brooklyn Dodgers	21-13	Exh
CT	Hartford	1925	11/26	Kansas City Cowboys	at	Cleveland Bulldogs	17-0	Off
DC	Washington	1921	11/27	Canton Bulldogs	at	Washington Senators	15-0	Off
DE	Wilmington	1949	8/10	Baltimore Colts	vs	Buffalo Bills	28-12	Exh
FL	Miami	1938	2/6	Chicago Bears	n	Washington Redskins	16-10	Exh
GA	Atlanta	1946	9/28	Brooklyn Dodgers	at	Miami Seahawks	17-7	Exh
HI	Honolulu	1961	8/11	Houston Oilers	n	Oakland Raiders	35-17	Exh
IA	Des Moines	1947	9/10	Los Angeles Rams	n	Boston Yanks	24-0	Exh
IL	Rock Island	1920	10/3	Rock Island Independents	vs	Muncie Flyers	45-0	Off
IN	Evansville	1921	10/2	Evansville Crimson Giants	vs	Louisville Brecks	21-0	Off
KS	Wichita	1963	8/31	Houston Oilers	at	Kansas City Chiefs	23-17	Exh
KY	Louisville	1921	12/4	Columbus Panhandles	at	Louisville Brecks	6-0	Off
LA	Shreveport	1922	12/28	Toledo Maroons	n	Milwaukee Badgers	17-0	Exh
MA	Boston	1925	12/9	Providence Steam Roller	vs	Chicago Bears	9-6	Off
MD	Baltimore	1942	9/7	Washington Redskins	vs	Green Bay Packers	28-7	Exh
ME	Bangor	1959	9/5	New York Giants	vs	Green Bay Packers	14-0	Exh
MI	Detroit	1920	10/24	Detroit Heralds	vs	Columbus Panhandles	6-0	Off
MN	Minneapolis	1921	10/30	Minneapolis Marines	vs	Columbus Panhandles	28-0	Off
MO	Saint Louis	1923	10/14	Hammond Pros	at	St. Louis All-Stars	0-0	Off
MS	Jackson	1969	8/16	Kansas City Chiefs	n	Cincinnati Bengals	23-7	Exh
NC	Durham	1952	9/6	Chicago Bears	n	Philadelphia Eagles	37-7	Exh
NE	Omaha	1949	9/14	Los Angeles Rams	n	New York Giants	14-7	Exh
NJ	East Orange	1929	9/29	New York Giants	at	Orange Tornadoes	0-0	Off
NM	Albuquerque	1961	8/26	New York Giants	at	Dallas Cowboys	28-10	Exh
NV	Las Vegas	1964	8/29	Oakland Raiders	vs	Houston Oilers	34-20	Exh
NY	Buffalo	1920	10/31	Buffalo All-Americans	vs	Rochester Jeffersons	17-6	Off
OH	Dayton	1920	10/3	Dayton Triangles	vs	Columbus Panhandles	14-0	Off
OK	Norman	1952	9/20	Detroit Lions	n	Washington Redskins	45-7	Exh
OR	Portland	1946	8/18	Brooklyn Dodgers	n	Chicago Rocket	14-14	Exh
PA	Philadelphia	1924	9/27	Frankford Yellow Jackets	vs	Rochester Jeffersons	21-0	Off
RI	Providence	1925	10/11	Providence Steam Roller	vs	New York Giants	14-0	Off
SC	Columbia	1953	9/9	Pittsburgh Steelers	at	Washington Redskins	21-14	Exh
SD	Sioux Falls	1961	8/5	Dallas Cowboys	at	Minnesota Vikings	38-13	Exh
TN	Nashville	1932	12/26	Chicago Bears	n	Boston Braves	25-0	Exh
TX	Dallas	1938	1/23	Washington Redskins	n	Chicago Bears	13-0	Exh
UT	Ogden	1944	8/30	Washington Redskins	n	Brooklyn Tigers	14-7	Exh
VA	Roanoke	1949	9/10	Detroit Lions	n	Pittsburgh Steelers	41-21	Exh
WA	Spokane	1946	8/24	New York Yankees	n	Brooklyn Dodgers	21-14	Exh
WI	Green Bay	1921	10/23	Green Bay Packers	vs	Minneapolis Marines	7-6	Off
WV	Charleston	1938	11/20	Philadelphia Eagles	vs	Pittsburgh Pirates	14-7	Off

New Hampshire and Wyoming are the only states to have never hosted a major pro vs. major pro game, but to have hosted a major pro vs. non-major pro game.

 

Additional Info

• The first major pro football game played in the states of Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wyoming was also the last one played in those states.

• In the first major pro game in the state of Kansas (1936), the Brooklyn Dodgers crushed the semi-pro St. Louis Terriers 100-0. It was the last time an NFL team scored 100 points or more in a game.

• The Chicago Bears were a participant in the first major pro football game in eight different states (AL, AZ, FL, MA, MN, OR, TN, WA); the most by any franchise.

Acknowledgement: Game scores retrieved from Pro Football Archives were instrumental in putting together the content above.

Additional Reference: Pro-Football-Reference.com