 In 1934, George A. Richards, a radio executive who owned WJR, a radio affiliate of the NBC Blue Network (the forerunner to today's ABC), purchased the Portsmouth Spartans for $8,000 and moved the team to Detroit, renaming them the Detroit Lions.In their inaugural season in Detroit several months later, the Lions started off with a 10-game win streak that included seven shutouts.However, they lost the last three games of the season to the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears and finished in second place behind the Bears in the Western Division, once again coming up short to their rivals.