National Football League

"NFL" redirects here. For other leagues of the same name and other uses, see National Football League (disambiguation) and NFL (disambiguation).

National Football League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024 NFL season
FormerlyAmerican Professional Football Conference (1920)
American Professional Football Association
(1920–1921)
SportAmerican football
FoundedSeptember 17, 1920 (104 years ago) (1920-09-17)
Canton, Ohio, U.S.[1][2]
First season1920
CommissionerRoger Goodell
No. of teams32
CountryUnited States[A]
Headquarters345 Park Avenue (New York City)[3]
Most recent
champion(s)		Kansas City Chiefs
(4th title)
Most titlesGreen Bay Packers
(13 titles)
TV partner(s)United States:[4]
CBS
Fox
NBC
ESPN (ABC, ESPN2)
NFL Network
Telemundo Deportes
ESPN Deportes
International:
See list
Streaming partner(s)United States:
Paramount+
Peacock
ESPN+
Amazon
Netflix
International:
DAZN
Official websiteNFL.com

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and the highest professional level of American football in the world.[5] Each NFL season begins annually with a three-week preseason in August, followed by the 18-week regular season, which runs from early September to early January, with each team playing 17 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference, including four division winners and three wild card teams, advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which culminates in the Super Bowl, played in early February between the winners of the AFC and NFC championship games.

The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. After initially determining champions through end-of-season standings, a playoff system was implemented in 1933 that culminated with the NFL Championship Game until 1966. Following an agreement to merge the NFL with the rival American Football League (AFL), the Super Bowl was first held in 1967 to determine a champion between the best teams from the two leagues and has remained as the final game of each NFL season since the merger was completed in 1970.[6] The NFL is the wealthiest professional sports league in the world by revenue[7] and the sports league with the most valuable teams.[8] The NFL also has the highest average attendance (67,591) of any professional sports league in the world[9] and is the most popular sports league in the United States.[10] The Super Bowl is also among the most-watched sporting events in the world,[11] with the individual games accounting for many of the most watched television programs in American history and all occupying the top five of Nielsen's all-time most-watched U.S. television broadcasts by 2015.[12] The NFL is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.

The Green Bay Packers hold the most combined NFL championships with thirteen, winning nine titles before the Super Bowl era and four Super Bowls afterwards. Since the creation of the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers are tied for the most Super Bowl victories at six each. The reigning league champions are the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 25–22 in Super Bowl LVIII.

  1. ^ Battista, Judy (September 16, 2020). "Remembering the NFL's humble origins on its 100th birthday". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "NFL founded in Canton". ProFootballHOF.com. Pro Football Hall of Fame. January 1, 2005. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  3. ^ "League Address". Support.NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  4. ^ Gordon, Grant (March 18, 2021). "NFL announces new broadcast deals running through 2033 season". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  5. ^ Jozsa, Frank P. (2004). Sports Capitalism: The Foreign Business of American Professional Leagues. Ashgate Publishing. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-7546-4185-8. Since 1922, [the NFL] has been the top professional sports league in the world with respect to American football
  6. ^ Gulizia, Anthony; Willis, Jeremy (August 14, 2019). "How the NFL took over America in 100 years". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  7. ^ Garcia, Ahiza (April 29, 2018). "Premier League revenues hit record high $6.4 billion". CNNMoney. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Badenhausen-2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "NFL is world's best attended pro sports league". ABS-CBN News. Agence France-Presse. January 6, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  10. ^ "Pro Football is Still America's Favorite Sport". Harris Interactive. January 26, 2016. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  11. ^ Harris, Nick (January 31, 2010). "Elite clubs on Uefa gravy train as Super Bowl knocked off perch". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  12. ^ "Super Bowl XLV Most Viewed Telecast in U.S. Broadcast History". Nielsen Company. February 7, 2011. Archived from the original on February 8, 2011. Retrieved February 17, 2013.


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