National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league.

It consists of 32 teams, divided equally between AFC and NFC. AFC: American Football Conference NFC: National Football Conference

History: APFC August 20, 1920:  Formation of APFC APFC: American Professional Football Conference

History:APFA  Sept 17,  1920:  APFC was  renamed to APFA  APFA: American Professional Football Association

Rename June 24,  1922APFA changed its name to the NFL. NFL: National Football League

Rival Groups  Though NFL was the largest professional football league in US, some regional rival leagues existed.

Rival Groups Some rival leagues: Three separate AFLs (American Football League) and AAFC (All-America Football Conference), on top of various regional leagues.

Greatest Rival  By 1950s, NFL had an effective monopoly on professional football in US. A new AFL began to play in 1960 & challenged the NFL in popularity

Merger with Rival June 8, 1966: announcement of merger of NFL & AFL.  Before full effect of merger  in 1970 a game, the Super Bowl, was held four times.

Super Bowl  NFL won Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II. AFL won Super Bowl III and Super Bowl IV.

Creation of NFC & AFC After merge, it created two conferences: NFC & AFC  NFC: National Football Conference AFC: American Football Conference