It wouldn't be a true NFL event without legal wrangling, a disagreement over money, and a fan who feels he got a raw deal.

The league is presenting Super Bowl I on Friday on its network, and for almost anyone who wasn't watching the actual game on Jan. 15, 1967, it will be the first time viewing it. That's because even though both CBS and NBC broadcast the game that day, neither network has a tape of it, so the Green Bay Packers' historic win over the Kansas City Chiefs hasn't ever been rebroadcast, even in part. NFL Films was there on that day, though, and has cobbled together the game from its archives. That's what will be aired on Friday.

View photos Green Bay's Max McGee (R) had the first TD in Super Bowl history. (Getty) More

However, a tape of the original broadcast exists. And that tale of the tape is equal parts intriguing and maddening.

A Pennsylvania resident, who has remained anonymous to this day, had a copy of the original broadcast and brought it to the Paley Center for Media in New York. The Paley Center vetted it on a two-inch-tape machine. According to Paley Center curator Ron Simon, the footage is fascinating. This was at the dawn of instant replay, so the broadcasters are heard reassuring viewers that they were not looking at game action but rather a capture of previous plays. Slow motion was still a new trick. Frank Gifford, then only 36 years old, provided color commentary. Pat Summerall handled the trophy presentation. The commercials were not at all like what we'll see next month: ads for Black Label beer, shampoo, and cigarettes. The cost of a 30-second ad was $42,000 (compared to today's millions). It's TV gold.

So the Paley Center gave it to the NFL and it was shown to the world, right? Well, no. Because the tape was so rare and valuable, the fan wanted money for it. He threw out a number: $1 million.

The NFL came back with a far lower number, "low five-figures," according to the tape-holder's lawyer, Steve Harwood.

"The reaction was: it's their game and they did not want to pay for something they felt was theirs," he says.

Harwood and his client still wanted to work with the NFL so that the world could see the tape. He says the league threatened an injunction.

"Gone back to them twice, 10 years ago and this year. Both times we’ve dealt with the legal dept.," Harwood said. "First time it was an outside law firm. Both sent us a nice little cease and desist letter."

Reached by email this week, Alex Riethmiller of the NFL wrote to Yahoo Sports: "I can't speak to any negotiations that have or haven't happened, but I can say that there is no known copy of the original broadcast, CBS or NBC, that is complete with all the plays."

As for the Paley Center tape, Riethmiller wrote, "it's missing a huge chunk of the third quarter from everything I've read."

The broadcast is missing part of the game, Simon confirms, yet it's still a key part of television history.

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