The NFL began in a Canton auto showroom in 1920
On 20 August 1920, men from four Ohio clubs, the Dayton Triangles, Cleveland Indians, Akron Pros and Canton Bulldogs, gathered at a Jordan and Hupmobile car showroom in Canton, Ohio. They wanted to lift standards, stop clubs bidding against each other for players and coordinate schedules, and their group grew into the National Football League.
A second meeting on 17 September brought in clubs from Indiana, New York and Illinois and adopted the name American Professional Football Association, with Olympic star Jim Thorpe as first president. Fourteen teams played that year, but only two survive: the Decatur Staleys, who became the Bears, and the Cardinals, since moved from Chicago to Arizona. No official standings were kept in 1920, and Akron was simply awarded the title for going 8–0–3. The association became the National Football League on 24 June 1922.
Champions were first decided by winning percentage, with ties ignored. In 1932 the Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans finished level, and snow and bitter cold pushed their deciding game indoors to Chicago Stadium on an undersized field. A proper playoff system followed in 1933, ending in an NFL Championship Game until 1966. Rival leagues came and went; the Rams descend from a 1936 American Football League, while the Browns and 49ers came from the All-America Football Conference. After agreeing to merge with the AFL, the league staged the first Super Bowl in 1967, and the merger was finished in 1970.
Today 32 teams split evenly between the AFC and NFC. After a three-week August preseason, each plays 17 games across 18 weeks from September to January, and seven teams per conference reach a knockout playoff ending in the Super Bowl in early February.
No sports league earns more or owns more valuable teams, and average crowds of 67,591 lead the world. By 2015 Super Bowls held the top five spots in Nielsen's list of most-watched US broadcasts. Green Bay owns 13 titles, nine before the Super Bowl era, while New England and Pittsburgh share the Super Bowl record with six.
Source: National Football League
