Americans' interest in sports intensified during the decade. Television brought live sports into peoples' homes for the first time. A new magazine, Sports Illustrated, was created to provide a weekly source of sports news and photographs. Baseball remained the most popular of American sports, and the New York Yankees continued to dominate the sport, winning seven of the nine World Series they played in during the decade. Professional football finally surpassed college football in popularity during the decade, thanks in part to the weekly televised broadcasts of games. During the winter, Americans turned to basketball. College basketball remained popular, despite several betting scandals that disgraced the game. The reorganization of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949 gave a boost to professional basketball. Even more important were rule changes in 1954 that made basketball more exciting.

An important trend in sports during the 1950s was integration...