National Football League: Here's Everything You Need To Know

The National Football League (NFL) is the largest, most prominent, and renowned professional American football league. It is among the four major North American professional sports leagues and is considered one of the professional levels of American football in the entire world. The NFL league consists of 32 teams equally divided among the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC).

The NFL has a great history with a lot of ups and downs. Even after facing intense competition from the rival leagues, today, it has become one of the leagues with the highest average attendance compared to any other in the world. Apart from this, NFL is the wealthiest professional league based on revenue generation and is renowned worldwide for the most valuable teams. If you are interested in knowing more about the NFL, read this article. It will take you through its history, teams, members, and more. 

Sneak Peek Into NFL League

Sport: American football

Country: United States

Founded On: September 17, 1920

Commissioner: Roger Goodell (in 2021)

No. of teams: 32

Headquarters: 345 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10154

TV partner(s): United States (CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, NFL Network, Telemundo Deportes) and International (Broadcasters)

Website: www.nfl.com 

History of NFL League

The National Football League (NFL League) was founded in 1920. It began as American Professional Football Conference (APFC) and intended to raise the standard of the game and eliminate the bidding for players. During that time, fourteen teams were drawn, and they were charged $100 as the membership fee. The league selected Jim Thorpe as the first president, who was also a player in the league. Then, in the year 1921, the number of teams increased from 14 to 21. Finally, in 1922, the APFC was renamed as NFL, i.e., National Football League.  

The initial years of the NFL League went in stabilizing itself and facing competition from the opponent organizations. Till 1931, there was constant addition and subtraction of team members. The following year, i.e., 1932, the league had its first championship. In 1933, the NFL League split into Eastern and Western Divisions. Later in the year 1950, they were renamed as American Conference and National Conference, respectively. After the next few years, in 1960, American Football League (AFL) began its operations as a rival league of NFL. But in 1970, the NFL and AFL merged. The league expanded four times and became a 26-team circuit. Until the 2000s, there were no major changes in the league. In 2002, the NFL realigned and created four divisions with four teams each. These realigned teams in the NFL League are what we get to see today. 

National Football League Teams

American Football Conference (AFC):

AFC is one among the two NFL League conferences. It is America’s highest professional level of a football team. This conference is formed with 16 teams that are categorized into four divisions. Kansas City Chiefs is the current champion of AFC who took the title by defeating the Buffalo Bills in 2020. Below given is a complete chart of AFC teams.

National Football Conference (NFC):

The NFL League has two conferences. One is AFC, and the other is NFC, i.e., National Football Conference. It also contains 16 teams which are divided into four divisions. Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the current champion of the NFC. They defeated the Green Bay Packers in 2020. Here is a chart of the teams that make up NFC.