There certainly have been some heated arguments and speculation over
what happened to the 1973 IRDL tapes. Collectors and ex skaters have
told me they are either destroyed, lost or simply public domain. Not
true folks. They reside in a climate controlled vault in Southern
California. Let me clear up once for all who owns them and what RD
fans may see in the future. <p>

What happened to the games after the Derby folded I dont know other
than ABR entertainment showing IRDL games on cable TV which resulted
in alot of the games in circulation today. Let's fast forward to 1999.
That year Cavalcade of Sports Media made a large sports film purchase
which included the IRDL games and 1950's games. The press release was
on the internet I was surprised nobody saw it. In Dec 2005 Cavalcade
sold their collection to Collectible Concepts Group which is a sports
licensing company with MLB,NBA and NFL agreements (see press release
link below). CCG has partnered this year with Back in Time TV to
market and distribute many of the vintage games in this library.
Because of this enormous job of going through thousands of hours of
film/tape and their impending move, BIT hasn't gotten to the IRDL
games yet. This is why I waited to post because I wanted to provide a
link to the complete list including dates and teams skating. <p>

I've talked with BIT this year and I'm told there could be plans to
sell the games or broadcast them on a vintage sports channel. What's
exciting are games or halves of games that haven't been seen since
1973 and let's not forget the 50's games in there too. Once that list
is available, hopefully by early 07, I will post for everyone to see.
Both CCG and BIT ask they NOT be contacted with questions so please
respect their requests. So, as we all knew then and now, the claimants
to ownership were frauds and any sales on the net are obviously
illegal. Well, hope that makes IRDL fan's weekend. <p>

http://www5.sys-con.com/read/166008.htm CCQ buys film library