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Texas football season kicks off early with new interactive film archive

A new online exhibit from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image explores more than a century of the sport's history in Texas.

Photo by Pixabay via Pexels

Triple-digit temperatures may say it's still summer, but football season is only weeks away. Before Friday night lights return and college stadiums roar back to life, Texans can get an early kickoff with Game Film: Texas Football Culture in Motion, a new interactive online exhibit. The project by the Texas Archive of the Moving Image celebrates more than a century of the state's high school, college, and professional football history.

The free digital exhibit uses archival game film, home movies, television broadcasts, and local news coverage to explore how football is woven into the fabric of Texas life. Rather than presenting a collection of videos, the archive has curated an interactive experience that lets visitors discover the people, traditions, innovations, and defining moments behind the state's football culture.

Game Film encourages exploration through interactive features. Visitors can follow a timeline of football milestones spanning high school, college, and professional football, click through an interactive state map highlighting archival footage available from schools and programs across the state, or browse themed collections devoted to Friday night culture and fan traditions.

This project, unveiled July 31, was assembled by Katharine Austin, a longtime curator at the Texas Archive, as part of the Texas Film Commission's Texas Moving Image Archive Program.

The interactive timeline traces the sport from its earliest days through the modern era, spotlighting milestones including:

1894: the beginning of the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry
1900: the first Red River Rivalry
1914: the formation of the Southwest Conference
1921: the UIL's first state football championship
1938: TCU quarterback Davey O'Brien becoming the first player from a Texas college to win the Heisman Trophy
1959: the founding of the Houston Oilers
1960: the Dallas Cowboys joining the NFL
1987: SMU's NCAA "death penalty"
1996: Drew Brees leading Westlake High School to its first state football championship
1999: Houston being awarded the NFL expansion franchise that became the Texans

Many later entries include original television reports and archival footage from the events themselves.

An interactive state map offers another way to explore the collection, highlighting schools, colleges, and professional teams represented in the archive.

One click reveals silent film of Austin High School's 20-7 victory over Sunset High in the 1942 UIL state championship, while another captures Timpson High School's homecoming celebration in East Texas, complete with parade floats, marching bands, and community festivities. Other sections spotlight Friday night traditions, Darrell Royal's wishbone offense, Bill Yeoman's Veer defense, behind-the-scenes stories from the Houston Oilers, and the invention of the quarterback flak jacket.

Game Film is the latest in a series of interactive exhibits from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, joining projects including Women on the Move, Journey to the Moon Through Texas, Meet Me in San Antonio, La Frontera Fluid, and Breaking News: Rescuing the First Draft of History. The archive's broader collection and the nonprofit both accept public donations of historic films, videotapes, photographs, and other moving-image materials, helping preserve Texas stories for future generations.

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NHL taps Houston billionaire to launch new Texas hockey franchise

Photo by Morris Molina

Houston has been without a pro hockey team since the Aeros folded.

Hockey fans in either Houston or Austin may have a new opportunity to root for the home team. The NHL has committed to adding a 33rd team in the Lone Star State, according to multiple media reports.

As part of those plans, the NHL has reached an agreement with Pursuit Sports, an arm of the Houston-based Friedkin family. Per the agreement, the NHL has granted The Friedkin Family, led by Houston billionaire Dan Friedkin, the exclusive rights to own the future franchise. Pursuit Sports, the family’s company that owns three European soccer franchises, will evaluate both Houston and Austin as potential homes for the team.

The family issued the following statement about the NHL’s decision. It reads in part:

Each city brings unique attributes that would make a new team a huge success — both have the infrastructure, passionate fan bases, and economic strength needed to support a championship-caliber franchise for years to come.

We have wanted for some time to bring an NHL team to Texas, and we are excited that the process has now begun. Selecting a new market for an NHL franchise is a special and important responsibility, and we are grateful to the league for their faith in us and their support. Working with Commissioner Bettman and the NHL, we will undertake a principled, disciplined, and methodical process to ensure we find the right long-term home for this new franchise.

Houston has been without a professional hockey team since the Houston Aeros folded in 2013.

With a net worth of $11.4 billion, Dan Friedkin ranks No. 279 on the 2026 edition of the Forbes World’s Billionaires List. That’s good for Houston’s third richest resident, behind only Kinder Morgan chairman Richard Kinder (No. 232, $13 billion) and Landry’s owner Tilman Fertitta (No. 268, $11.7 billion).

His wealth primarily stems from his ownership of Gulf States Toyota, which has the exclusive rights to sell Toyota vehicles in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. The company sold more than $13 billion worth of Toyotas in 2025 alone, Forbes reports.

The Friedkin family launched Pursuit Sports last summer. It currently owns three European soccer clubs — A.S. Roma (Italian Serie A), A.S. Cannes (French Championnat National 2), and Everton F.C. (English Premier League).