Since 1973, video games controlled with hand-held devices have captured global attention, with sports games taking center stage right from the start thanks to an early, simple tennis-inspired classic. For countless gamers, their love of gaming began on Christmas morning, unwrapping packages that matched the size of those coveted titles seen behind glass in stores. Sports games, in particular, have held a unique place in the festive magic of the holidays.
So which sports titles had the greatest impact on each holiday season? This list was compiled based on factors such as sales figures, the game’s influence on console sales, and its overall cultural significance.
[1973] Pong (Arcade)
Christmas 1973 was the first true “Video Game Holiday,” but it wasn’t played in the living room — it was played in bowling alleys, bars, and shopping malls. While the Magnavox Odyssey home console was technically available, it was expensive and silent. The real cultural obsession was the coin-operated Pong machine. By late 1973, Atari had filled thousands of orders, and competitors had flooded the market with clones (like Winner and Paddle Battle). The “video game industry” effectively exploded into existence this specific year.
Because you couldn’t wrap an arcade cabinet, Pong was the destination gift. For Christmas 1973, the “hottest present” wasn’t a box under the tree, but a roll of quarters and a trip to the local arcade or mall. It was the first time families and friends gathered around a screen to compete in an electronic sport.
[1974] Magnavox Odyssey (Overlays)
While Pong machines popped up everywhere from arcades to bars, the first “home” Pong machines would not debut until 1975. That gave the Magnavox Odyssey one last year to shine. While the machine could technically only display a series of dots and a vertical line, plastic overlay sheets could be employed to create the illusion of playing sports.
You had to tape the translucent sheets to your TV screen (held in place with static electricity), and suddenly you were on a hockey rink, a tennis court, or maybe even the gridiron. Fun fact: Football was actually a hybrid board game. While the console ran the play, you used a physical dice, playing cards, and a scorepad to actually track the game’s action. In the words of Magnavox, this was “The Electronic Game of the Future.”
[1975] Home Pong (Atari Home Console)
In 1975, Atari and Sears combined to bring the craze of Pong to the bottom of Christmas trees for the first time. The console featured a built-in speaker to mimic the sounds of the arcade so many had come to love, and felt like a truly premium feature compared to the silent Odyssey. The brilliance of Atari’s marketing strategy was to appeal to parents by selling it as a piece of Sears technology, rather than some toy from some random start-up.
As such, it was featured prominently in the legendary Sears Wish Book, the bible of American Christmas shopping. Sears would order 150,000 devices from Atari and sell every single one, becoming the first instance of a holiday video game shortage.
[1976] Atari Pong/Super Pong (Atari Home Console)
What happens when the fledgling video game industry takes over Christmas in 1975? You get a market flooded with clones in 1976, attempting to capture that same lightning in a bottle. Enter the pong clones, cheap and generic copies that all played the same game of tennis. Sears, eager to strike gold twice, advertised the true ‘premium’ choice that holiday season as Super Pong.
While it played the original version of Pong, the included Super Pong added a second paddle to allow players to control both the goalie and a forward. It included two other games to boot. Catch where you attempt to grab the ball rather than hitting it, and Solitaire (think Pong, but racquetball-style). Solitaire became a surprise hit, as it was the first time that Pong did not require a second player.
Finally, Super Pong came in color (if you had a color TV). It was an upgrade in every way and solidified the Sears/Atari partnership as king of the home console.
[1977] Video Olympics (Atari 2600)
By 1977, the debut of the Atari Video Computer System (later the Atari 2600) provided a way to play interchangeable cartridges rather than having a machine dedicated to a single game. But this new wonder of technology was not cheap, retailing for $199 (nearly $1,000 adjusted for inflation). Atari needed a killer app and a way to make parents feel that the value in a single cartridge was worth the splurge.
Enter Video Olympics, which included 50 games in one! Kind of. Sort of. Basically, but not really. While 50-in-1 became the main selling point, in reality, the games were clever variations of Pong’s mechanics. For example, in Basketball, the paddle moves across the bottom of the screen rather than on the sides, creating the illusion that you’re now shooting up from the court. But in 1977, this variety blew minds.
It was also one of the first games to allow for 4 players simultaneously using two sets of paddles, making it a great holiday party game. Sears, selling the title as Pong Sports, advertised it as the Pong Killer. “Why buy a console that plays one game when this cartridge plays 50?” became the advertising pitch of the season.
[1978] Atari Football (Arcade)
This was the dawn of the “golden age” of arcades. While the world shot aliens down in Space Invaders, this table-sized machine was also drawing crowds. Released in October to coincide with the NFL season, it was the only real competitor to the success of Space Invaders in the arcade space.
This game was the first to introduce the Trak-Ball, a heavy black ball that had to be spun as fast as humanly possible. The faster you spun, the faster your player ran. The game featured a scrolling playfield (moving with the players) and even included actual playcalling from one of four options. The game gained infamy for causing actual physical pain as players would use their palms to spin the ball so violently that they would develop friction blisters. Some resorted to rolling with their forearms or elbows to keep playing.
[1979] Mattel Electronic Football (Handheld)
The only ‘graphics’ were the red LEDs on the screen. The bright red LED is you. The dimmer ones are the defenders. And that’s it, go play some football. Moving the dash up, down, or forward, you needed to avoid the enemy dots to score for as long as the 9-volt battery would last.
This holiday season was the peak of the LED handheld craze. While the Atari 2600 was tethered to the family TV, these things were becoming a staple in pockets and backpacks. Mattel struck gold with calculator-shaped devices that played like a game, creating a craze for personal handheld tech not seen again until the Game Boy arrived a decade later.
Packaging emphasized that you were playing against a “computer brain,” a clever bit of advertising at a time when owning a “computer” was more science fiction than reality for many families. But for $30, you can hold one in your hand.
