An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions , with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conferences often, but not always, include teams from a common geographic region.
115-609: The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences that make up the National Basketball Association (NBA), the other being the Western Conference . Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three divisions . The Eastern Conference comprises the Atlantic , Central , and Southeast Divisions. The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 2004–05 season , when
230-811: A season , a conference refers to a single tournament. This has since been carried over by other leagues, such as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), which has its own conferences , the Philippine Super Liga , the Premier Volleyball League , the PBA D-League , and formerly the Philippine Basketball League . The term "conference" referring to a single tournament does not apply if there's only one tournament in
345-672: A 12-game schedule since 1947, changed to a 14-game schedule in 1961, a year after the American Football League instituted it. The AFL also introduced the two-point conversion to professional football 34 years before the NFL instituted it in 1994 (college football had adopted the two-point conversion in the late 1950s). All of these innovations pioneered by the AFL, including its more exciting style of play and colorful uniforms, have essentially made today's professional football more like
460-690: A campaign to undermine the new league. AFL owners were approached with promises of new NFL franchises or ownership stakes in existing ones. Only the party from Minneapolis-Saint Paul accepted, and with the addition of Ole Haugsrud and Bernie Ridder the Minnesota group joined the NFL in 1961 as the Minnesota Vikings . The older league also announced on August 29 that it had conveniently reversed its position against expansion, and planned to bring new NFL teams to Houston and Dallas, to start play in 1961. (The NFL did not expand to Houston at that time;
575-516: A conference system. From 2011 through to 2015, the competition had one conference based in each of its three founding countries . The winner of each conference received a playoff spot, as did the three next best teams overall. With the addition of Argentina's Jaguares and Japan's Sunwolves for 2016, plus a sixth franchise for South Africa, the competition reorganised into a new four-conference system. In 2016 and 2017, Australia and New Zealand formed separate conferences within an Australasian group;
690-524: A flashier style of play (just like the ABA in basketball), compared to the more conservative game of the NFL. Long passes ("bombs") were commonplace in AFL offenses, led by such talented quarterbacks as John Hadl , Daryle Lamonica and Len Dawson . Despite having a national television contract, the AFL often found itself trying to gain a foothold, only to come up against roadblocks. For example, CBS, which broadcast NFL games, ignored and did not report scores from
805-610: A group of teams (generally eight to twelve colleges and/or universities, occasionally as high as sixteen) that regularly play against each other within a national governing body, the most significant of which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Most of these groups (including the "Power Five" conferences that are primary partners in the College Football Playoff ) refer to themselves as conferences, although
920-438: A lesser extent their own conference; NBA and NHL teams play at least two games (one at each home arena ) against every other team in their league in a regular season, MLB teams play at least one 3-game series against every other team (as of the 2023 season ), but the NFL teams do not. In college sports , the terms "league," "conference" and (generally at lower levels) "athletic association" can be used interchangeably to refer to
1035-525: A little better on the field but had their own financial troubles. Attendance was so low for home games that team owner Harry Wismer had fans move to seats closer to the field to give the illusion of a fuller stadium on television. Eventually Wismer could no longer afford to meet his payroll, and on November 8, 1962, the AFL took over operations of the team. The Titans were sold to a five-person ownership group headed by Sonny Werblin on March 28, 1963, and in April
1150-469: A lucrative $ 36 million television contract with NBC (beginning in the 1965 season), which gave the league money it needed to compete with the NFL for players. Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney was quoted as saying to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle after receiving the news of the AFL's new TV deal that, "They don't have to call us 'Mister' anymore". A single-game attendance record was set on November 8, 1964, when 61,929 fans packed Shea Stadium to watch
1265-458: A mix of AFL and CFL rules. While the Oilers found instant success in the AFL, other teams did not fare as well. The Oakland Raiders and New York Titans struggled on and off the field during their first few seasons in the league. Oakland's eight-man ownership group was reduced to just three in 1961, after heavy financial losses in their first season. Attendance for home games was poor, partly due to
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#17327874015811380-403: A new professional football league to California and New York , but introduced the sport to Colorado , restored it to Texas and later to fast-growing Florida , as well as bringing it to Greater Boston for the first time in 12 years. Buffalo, having lost its original NFL franchise in 1929 and turned down by the NFL at least twice (1940 and 1950 ) for a replacement, returned to the NFL with
1495-480: A potentially costly rivalry. Within weeks of the July 1959 announcement of the league's formation, Hunt received commitments from Barron Hilton and Harry Wismer to bring teams to Los Angeles and New York, respectively. His initial efforts for Buffalo, however, were rebuffed, when Hunt's first choice of owner, Pat McGroder , declined to take part; McGroder had hoped that the threat of the AFL would be enough to prompt
1610-572: A season, such as in the case of the college sports leagues, the Philippine Football League , and the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League . American Football League The American Football League ( AFL ) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became
1725-623: A second draft on December 2, which lasted for 20 rounds. Because the Oakland Raiders joined after the initial AFL drafts, they inherited Minnesota's selections. A special allocation draft was held in January 1960, to allow the Raiders to stock their team, as some of the other AFL teams had already signed some of Minneapolis' original draft choices. In November 1959, Minneapolis-Saint Paul owner Max Winter announced his intent to leave
1840-514: A secondary trophy called a "shield" (Irish, Scottish/Italian, South African, Welsh), with the overall league table used to determine playoff participants. The winner of each shield, however, is assured a place in the following year's European Rugby Champions Cup regardless of its overall league position. The now defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association , where teams are represented by companies instead of geographical entities, and there are multiple tournaments held sequentially in
1955-539: A similar result. The Oakland Raiders—who had easily beaten the Houston Oilers to win their first AFL championship—were overmatched by the Packers, 33–14. The more experienced Packers capitalized on a number of Raiders miscues and never trailed. Green Bay defensive tackle Henry Jordan offered a compliment to Oakland and the AFL, when he said, "... the AFL is becoming much more sophisticated on offense. I think
2070-503: A team to Miami. League expansion was approved at a meeting held on June 7, and on August 16 the AFL's ninth franchise was officially awarded to Robbie and entertainer Danny Thomas . The Miami Dolphins joined the league for a fee of $ 7.5 million and started play in the AFL's Eastern Division in 1966 . The AFL also planned to add two more teams by 1967. In 1966, the rivalry between the AFL and NFL reached an all-time peak. On April 7, Joe Foss resigned as AFL commissioner. His successor
2185-511: A total of sixteen teams (eight from each conference) qualify for the league's postseason playoffs. In the NHL , since the 2013–14 season, the top 3 in each division are guaranteed to qualify and division winners are awarded the highest seeds, meaning they will have home-ice advantage in a given round, with the two best remaining teams in each conference receiving wild card spots. In the NBA, starting with
2300-437: Is divided into an American Football Conference (AFC) and a National Football Conference (NFC). Both conferences have 16 teams, and each conference is divided into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. These conferences, for the most part, derive from the fact that they were once separate organizations: the original National Football League and the 1960s American Football League ; the two entities merged in 1970, with each league forming
2415-691: Is part of NCAA Division I (specifically the Football Bowl Subdivision ), but is itself also subdivided into an East and West division. In English association football, the top level of non-League football —i.e., the level below the Premier League and the three tiers that make up the English Football League (EFL)—was known as the Football Conference from the 1986–87 season through the end of
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#17327874015812530-577: Is the highest level of provincial competition in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the highest domestic level in Japan, and the only professional domestic level in Argentina. From the creation of Super Rugby in 1996 through 2015 , only Australia, New Zealand and South Africa participated; the competition added teams in the latter two countries in 2016 . Since the 2011 season , it has operated on
2645-550: The 1968 NFL season with a 13–1 record, and won the NFL title with a convincing 34–0 win over the Cleveland Browns. Led by their stalwart defense—which allowed a record-low 144 points—the 1968 Colts were considered one of the best-ever NFL teams. By contrast, the Jets had allowed 280 points, the highest total for any division winner in the two leagues. They had also only narrowly beaten the favored Oakland Raiders 27–23 in
2760-483: The American Football Conference . The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence. It was more successful than earlier rivals to the NFL with the same name, the 1926 , 1936 and 1940 leagues, and the later All-America Football Conference (which existed between 1944 and 1950 but only played between 1946 and 1949). This fourth version of
2875-872: The FA Cup (open to teams from all levels), the EFL Cup (open only to teams from the Premier League and the English Football League), and the FA Trophy (open only to teams in the broader definition of the National League, plus the two tiers below it). The Kontinental Hockey League has a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference . This is similar to the NHL 's conferences in North America . In rugby union , Super Rugby
2990-644: The Horizon League , Ivy League , Patriot League , Pioneer League and Summit League use the word "league" instead, and another conference calls itself the Coastal Athletic Association . The NCAA itself is divided into divisions and subdivisions based on athletic scholarship eligibility, which can lead to redundancy when these conferences also have divisions of their own. For instance, the Southeastern Conference
3105-566: The NFL's first-round draft choices in 1960 , including Houston's successful signing of college star and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon . While the first years of the AFL saw uneven competition and low attendance, the league was buttressed by a generous television contract with the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), followed by a contract with the competing National Broadcasting Company (NBC) for games starting with
3220-480: The New York Jets under new ownership, including the signing of University of Alabama star quarterback Joe Namath , further solidified the league's reputation among the major media. As fierce competition made player salaries skyrocket in both leagues, especially after a series of "raids", the leagues agreed to a merger in 1966 . Among the conditions were a common draft and a championship game played between
3335-630: The World Hockey Association (1972–79) managed to have four of its six remaining teams merged into the National Hockey League , which actually caused the older league to contract a franchise, but WHA teams were forced to disperse the majority of their rosters and restart as expansion teams. The merged WHA teams were also not financially sound (in large part from the hefty expansion fees the NHL imposed on them), and three of
3450-463: The 1953–1983 Baltimore Colts or to the current Indianapolis Colts franchise), played only one year in the NFL, disbanding at the end of the 1950 season. The league resulting from the merger was a 26-team juggernaut (since expanded to 32) with television rights covering all of the Big Three television networks (and since the 1990s, the newer Fox network ) and teams in close proximity to almost all of
3565-592: The 1965 season, that broadcast the more offense-oriented football league nationwide. Continuing to attract top talent from colleges and the NFL by the mid-1960s, as well as successful franchise shifts of the Chargers from L.A. south to San Diego and the Texans north to Kansas City (becoming the Kansas City Chiefs ), the AFL established a dedicated following. The transformation of the struggling Titans into
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3680-722: The 2002 expansion team restored professional football in Houston after the original charter AFL member Oilers relocated to become the Tennessee Titans . Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News has argued that the presence of AFL and the subsequent merger radically altered the fortunes of the Pittsburgh Steelers , saving the team "from stinking". Before the merger, the Steelers had long been one of
3795-534: The 2014–15 season. In turn, from 2004, the Conference was divided into three leagues—Conference Premier, at the fifth tier of the English football pyramid , and Conference North and Conference South, which made up the sixth tier. Starting with the 2015–16 season, the Football Conference and its component leagues were renamed. The Football Conference and Conference Premier were both renamed "National League", and
3910-498: The 2015–16 season, the playoff spots go to the eight top teams in each conference by overall record, with home-court advantage in each playoff series based solely on record. Major League Soccer (MLS) also divides itself into an Eastern and Western Conference , though it does not have divisions within them; it too allocates an equal number of teams from each conference to play for its MLS Cup Playoffs (since 2019, this has been seven teams each). The National Football League (NFL)
4025-465: The AFC with the rest of the former AFL teams after the merger helped them rebuild into a contender, drafting eventual- Pro Football Hall of Famers like Terry Bradshaw and Joe Greene , and ultimately winning four Super Bowls in the 1970s. Since the 1970 merger, the Steelers have the NFL's highest winning percentage, the most total victories, the most trips to either conference championship game, are tied for
4140-531: The AFL adopted the first-ever cooperative television plan for professional football, in which the proceeds were divided equally among member clubs. It featured many outstanding games, such as the classic 1962 double-overtime American Football League championship game between the Dallas Texans and the defending champion Houston Oilers . At the time it was the longest professional football championship game ever played. The AFL also appealed to fans by offering
4255-582: The AFL championship game. Jets quarterback Joe Namath recalled that in the days leading up to the game, he grew increasingly angry when told New York had no chance to beat Baltimore. Three days before the game, a frustrated Namath responded to a heckler at the Touchdown Club in Miami by declaring, "We're going to win Sunday, I guarantee it!" Namath and the Jets made good on his guarantee as they held
4370-534: The AFL expanded, adding the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals . After losses by the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders in the first two AFL-NFL World Championship Games to the Green Bay Packers (1966–67), the New York Jets and Chiefs won Super Bowls III and IV (1968–69) respectively, cementing the league's claim to being an equal to the NFL. In 1970, the AFL was absorbed into
4485-792: The AFL ownership " The Foolish Club ", a term Lamar Hunt subsequently used on team photographs he sent as Christmas gifts. The Oilers became the first-ever league champions by defeating the Chargers, 24–16, in the AFL Championship on January 1, 1961. Attendance for the 1960 season was respectable for a new league, but not nearly that of the NFL. In 1960, the NFL averaged attendance of more than 40,000 fans per game and more popular NFL teams in 1960 regularly saw attendance figures in excess of 50,000 per game, while CFL attendances averaged approximately 20,000 per game. By comparison, AFL attendance averaged about 16,500 per game and generally hovered between 10,000 and 20,000 per game. Professional football
4600-596: The AFL than like the old-line NFL. The AFL's challenge to the NFL also laid the groundwork for the Super Bowl , which has become the standard for championship contests in the United States of America. The NFL also adapted how the AFL used the growing power of televised football games, which were bolstered with the help of major network contracts (first with ABC , later with NBC after the latter network lost NFL rights to CBS ). With that first contract with ABC,
4715-482: The AFL to accept a franchise offer from the NFL. In 1961, his team began play in the NFL as the Minnesota Vikings . Los Angeles Chargers owner Barron Hilton demanded that a replacement for Minnesota be placed in California, to reduce his team's operating costs and to create a rivalry. After a brief search, Oakland was chosen and an ownership group led by F. Wayne Valley and local real estate developer Chet Soda
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4830-656: The AFL was the most successful, created by a number of owners who had been refused NFL expansion franchises or had minor shares of NFL franchises. The AFL's original lineup consisted of an Eastern division of the New York Titans , Boston Patriots , Buffalo Bills , and the Houston Oilers , and a Western division of the Los Angeles Chargers , Denver Broncos , Oakland Raiders , and Dallas Texans . The league first gained attention by signing 75% of
4945-537: The AFL; concerns over having to split the New York metro area with the still-uncertain Jets were a factor in the Bears' bid being rejected. In 1965, Milwaukee officials tried to lure an expansion team to play at Milwaukee County Stadium where the Green Bay Packers had played parts of their home schedule after an unsuccessful attempt to lure the Packers there full-time, but Packers head coach Vince Lombardi invoked
5060-533: The Bidwills was Lamar Hunt , son and heir of millionaire oilman H. L. Hunt . Hunt offered to buy the Cardinals and move them to Dallas , where he had grown up. However, these negotiations came to nothing, since the Bidwills insisted on retaining a controlling interest in the franchise and were unwilling to move their team to a city where a previous NFL franchise had failed in 1952 . While Hunt negotiated with
5175-419: The Bidwills, similar offers were made by Bud Adams , Bob Howsam , and Max Winter . When Hunt, Adams, and Howsam were unable to secure a controlling interest in the Cardinals, they approached NFL commissioner Bert Bell and proposed the addition of expansion teams . Bell, wary of expanding the 12-team league and risking its newfound success, rejected the offer. On his return flight to Dallas, Hunt conceived
5290-660: The Browns' archrivals ) and Baltimore Colts (who shared the Baltimore -Washington market with the Washington Redskins ) to follow suit, and each team received US$ 3 million to make the switch. The remaining 13 NFL teams became part of the National Football Conference . Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Charlie Joiner , who started his career with the Houston Oilers ( 1969 ), was
5405-587: The Colts scoreless until late in the fourth quarter. The Jets won, 16–7, in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in American sports history. With the win, the AFL finally achieved parity with the NFL and legitimized the merger of the two leagues. That notion was reinforced one year later in Super Bowl IV , when the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs upset the NFL champion Minnesota Vikings , 23–7, in
5520-760: The Cowboys and became the Kansas City Chiefs. As part of the merger agreement, additional expansion teams would be awarded by 1970 or soon thereafter to bring the league to 28 franchises; this requirement was fulfilled when the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers began play in 1976. In addition, had it not been for the existence of the Oilers from 1960 to 1996, the Houston Texans also would likely not exist today;
5635-930: The NFL before the AFL–NFL merger had folded completely: the three previous leagues named "American Football League" and the All-America Football Conference . From an earlier AFL (1936–1937), only the Cleveland Rams (now the Los Angeles Rams ) joined the NFL and are currently operating, as are the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers from the AAFC. A third AAFC team, the Baltimore Colts (not related to
5750-414: The NFL for college talent, the AFL under Davis began to also recruit players already on NFL squads. Davis's strategy focused on quarterbacks in particular, and in two months he persuaded seven NFL quarterbacks to sign with the AFL. Although Davis's intention was to help the AFL win the bidding war, some AFL and NFL owners saw the escalation as detrimental to both leagues. Alarmed with the rate of spending in
5865-420: The NFL once the merger was completed. The league's last expansion team, the Cincinnati Bengals began play in the 1968 season, finishing last in the Western Division. While many AFL players and observers believed their league was the equal of the NFL, their first two Super Bowl performances did nothing to prove it. However, on November 17, 1968, when NBC cut away from a game between the Jets and Raiders to air
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#17327874015815980-462: The NFL over 20 years. In protest, Davis resigned as AFL commissioner on July 25 rather than remain until the completion of the merger, and Milt Woodard was named president of the AFL, with the "commissioner" title vacated because of Rozelle's expanded role. On January 15, 1967, the first-ever championship game between the two separate professional football leagues, the "AFL-NFL World Championship Game" (retroactively referred to as Super Bowl I ),
6095-561: The NFL to expand to Buffalo. On August 14, 1959, the first league meeting was held in Chicago, and charter memberships were given to Dallas, New York, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis-Saint Paul. On August 22, the league officially was named the American Football League at a meeting in Dallas. The NFL's initial reaction was not as openly hostile as it had been with the earlier All-America Football Conference (AAFC), as Bell had even given his public approval; but he died suddenly in October 1959, and individual NFL owners soon began
6210-401: The NFL was still emerging from thirty years of segregation influenced by Washington Redskins' owner George Preston Marshall , the AFL actively recruited from small and predominantly black colleges. The AFL's color-blindness led not only to the explosion of black talent on the field, but to the eventual entry of blacks into scouting, coordinating, and ultimately head coaching positions, long after
6325-423: The NFL's Los Angeles Rams . The Oilers filed suit and claimed that Rams general manager Pete Rozelle had unduly manipulated Cannon. The court upheld the Houston contract, and with Cannon the Oilers appeared in the AFL's first three championship games (winning two). On June 9, 1960, the league signed a five-year television contract with ABC , which brought in revenues of approximately $ 2.125 million per year for
6440-420: The NFL's worst teams. Constantly lacking the money to build a quality team, the Steelers had only posted eight winning seasons, and just one playoff appearance, since their first year of existence in 1933 until the end of the 1969 season. They also finished with a 1–13 record in 1969 , tied with the Chicago Bears for the worst record in the NFL. The $ 3 million indemnity that the Steelers received for joining
6555-433: The NFL. The ten AFL franchises joined three existing NFL teams- the Baltimore Colts , the Cleveland Browns , and the Pittsburgh Steelers -to form the merged league's American Football Conference . During the 1950s, the National Football League had grown to rival Major League Baseball as one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the United States. One franchise that did not share in this newfound success of
6670-489: The New York Jets and Buffalo Bills. The bidding war for players between the AFL and NFL escalated in 1965. The Chiefs drafted University of Kansas star Gale Sayers in the first round of the 1965 AFL draft (held November 28, 1964), while the Chicago Bears did the same in the NFL draft. Sayers eventually signed with the Bears. A similar situation occurred when the New York Jets and the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals both drafted University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath . In what
6785-406: The South African teams were joined by the Jaguares and Sunwolves in a "South African" group, with that group also being divided into two conferences. The winner of each conference continued to receive a playoff spot, with additional berths going to the next three best Australasian teams and the next best team of the South African group. For 2018, Super Rugby will revert to a 15-team format, following
6900-464: The Texans became the second AFL team to relocate. Lamar Hunt felt that despite winning the league championship in 1962, the Texans could not sufficiently profit in the same market as the Dallas Cowboys , which entered the NFL as an expansion franchise in 1960. After meetings with New Orleans , Atlanta , and Miami , Hunt announced on May 22 that the Texans' new home would be Kansas City, Missouri . Kansas City mayor Harold Roe Bartle (nicknamed "Chief")
7015-406: The ball for the last play in AFL history. Hadl was named the game's Most Valuable Player . The AFL ceased to exist as an unincorporated organization on February 1, 1970, when the NFL granted 10 new franchises and issued a new constitution. Prior to the start of the 1970 NFL season , the merged league was organized into two conferences of three divisions each. All ten AFL teams made up the bulk of
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#17327874015817130-421: The basis of the NFC and AFC respectively. The NFL allocates seven teams from each conference for the NFL playoffs ; the four division winners (guaranteed one of the top four seeds, based on winning percentage), and the three best-non division winners, also known as wild cards . Major League Baseball (MLB) does not use the word "conference." Instead, it is divided into two separate leagues which are identical to
7245-433: The champions of the respective leagues. The two leagues would be fully merged by 1970, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle would remain as commissioner of the merged league, which would be named the NFL. Additional expansion teams would eventually be awarded by 1970 or soon thereafter to bring it to a 28-team league. (The additional expansion would not happen until 1976.) The AFL also agreed to pay indemnities of $ 18 million to
7360-402: The children's movie Heidi , the ensuing uproar helped disprove the notion that fans still considered the AFL an inferior product. The perception of AFL inferiority forever changed on January 12, 1969, when the AFL Champion New York Jets shocked the heavily favored NFL Champion Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III . The Colts, who entered the contest favored by as many as 18 points, had completed
7475-400: The competition's rebranding as the United Rugby Championship. For the first season under the URC name in 2021–22, the competition reorganized into four regionally based pools, though no longer using the word "conference". Three of the pools are made up of teams from one country—Ireland, South Africa, and Wales. The fourth features the teams from Italy and Scotland. Each regional pool competes for
7590-418: The concerns of both leagues over rapidly increasing player salaries, as well as the practice of player poaching. Hunt and Schramm completed the basic groundwork for a merger of the two leagues by the end of May, and on June 8, 1966, the merger was officially announced. Under the terms of the agreement, the two leagues would hold a common player draft. The agreement also called for a title game to be played between
7705-570: The conferences listed above in all but name (which, although their operations have been integrated via the Commissioner of Baseball in modern times, were originally separately managed organizations with an intense rivalry). These are the American League (AL) and National League (NL), with 15 teams each. Each league is divided into the Eastern ( AL , NL ), Central ( AL , NL ), and Western ( AL , NL ) divisions, with all six divisions having 5 teams each. Each league produces six teams for postseason play , with each division winner also guaranteed one of
7820-400: The dropping of two teams from South Africa and one from Australia. The new format features three conferences—Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, each with five teams; the Sunwolves will join the Australian conference and the Jaguares will play in the South African conference. The conference winners will continue to receive playoff berths, with additional berths going to the top five teams in
7935-446: The entire league. On June 17, the AFL filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, which was dismissed in 1962 after a two-month trial. The AFL began regular-season play (a night game on Friday, September 9, 1960) with eight teams in the league – the Boston Patriots , Buffalo Bills , Dallas Texans , Denver Broncos , Houston Oilers , Los Angeles Chargers , New York Titans , and Oakland Raiders . Raiders' co-owner Wayne Valley dubbed
8050-414: The finals (one from each conference/league) and the records of teams outside a conference/league are ignored, which can allow teams with inferior records to make the playoffs while teams in the other conference with better records do not get in. An extreme example of this has occurred three times in the NFL, when the 2010 Seattle Seahawks , 2014 Carolina Panthers , and 2020 Washington Football Team reached
8165-427: The fledgling league badly needed credibility. Rounding out this mix of potential talent were the true "free agents", the walk-ons and the "wanna-be's", who tried out in droves for the chance to play professional American football. After the AFL–NFL merger agreement in 1966, and after the AFL's Jets defeated an extremely strong Baltimore Colts team, a popular misconception fostered by the NFL and spread by media reports
8280-571: The four were forced to relocate within 20 years. Like the WHA, The American Basketball Association (1967–76) also managed to have only four of its teams merged into the National Basketball Association, and the rest of the league was forced to fold. Both the WHA and ABA lost several teams to financial insolvency over the course of their existences. The Continental League , a proposed third league for Major League Baseball that
8395-453: The idea of an entirely new league and decided to contact the others who had shown interest in purchasing the Cardinals. In addition to Adams, Howsam, and Winter, Hunt reached out to Bill Boyer , Winter's business partner, to gauge their interest in starting a new league. Hunt's first meeting with Adams was held in March 1959. Hunt, who felt a regional rivalry would be critical for the success of
8510-433: The innovations introduced by the AFL immediately and a few others in the years following the merger. One was including the names on player jerseys. The older league also adopted the practice of using the stadium scoreboard clocks to keep track of the official game time, instead of just having a stopwatch used by the referee. The AFL played a 14-game schedule for its entire existence, starting in 1960. The NFL, which had played
8625-417: The innovative AFL. While it has been alleged this snub was on orders from the NFL, it is more likely the arrangement was mutual due to the equally bitter rivalry between CBS and NBC. After the merger agreement was announced, CBS agreed to report AFL scores. The AFL took advantage of the burgeoning popularity of football by locating teams in major cities that lacked NFL franchises. Hunt's vision not only brought
8740-504: The last AFL player active in professional football, retiring after the 1986 season, when he played for the San Diego Chargers . The American Football League stands as the only professional traditional outdoor football league to successfully compete against the NFL. When the two leagues merged in 1970, all ten AFL franchises and their statistics became part of the new NFL. Every other professional league that had competed against
8855-537: The last championship game to be played between the two leagues. The Vikings, favored by 12½ points, were held to just 67 rushing yards. The last game in AFL history was the AFL All-Star Game , held in Houston's Astrodome on January 17, 1970. The Western All-Stars, led by Chargers quarterback John Hadl , defeated the Eastern All-Stars, 26–3. Buffalo rookie running back O. J. Simpson carried
8970-604: The league began awarding the Larry Bird Trophy to the Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player , named after Hall of Famer Larry Bird . Notes Division Athletic conference The AFL Women's competition used a non-geographic conference system in 2019 and 2020 . The league was divided into two conferences, based on ladder position in the previous season. Not every team could play each other due to
9085-427: The league has always had good personnel, but the blocks were subtler and better conceived in this game." The AFL added its tenth and final team on May 24, 1967, when it awarded the league's second expansion franchise to an ownership group from Cincinnati , Ohio , headed by NFL legend Paul Brown . Although Brown had intended to join the NFL, he agreed to join the AFL when he learned that his team would be included in
9200-479: The league merged itself out of existence. The AFL's free agents came from several sources. Some were players who could not find success playing in the NFL, while another source was the then newly-formed Canadian Football League . In the late 1950s, many players released by the NFL, or un-drafted and unsigned out of college by the NFL, went North to try their luck with the CFL (which formed in 1958), and later returned to
9315-419: The league season, the teams that top each conference table received berths in the semifinals, with the next two teams in each conference playing off for semifinal berths. After the 2020–21 season, South Africa fully aligned its club rugby structure with that of Europe. The then-existing Pro14 franchises from South Africa were replaced by the country's four Super Rugby franchises, which moved into Pro14 and led to
9430-540: The league was the Chicago Cardinals – owned by the Bidwill family – who had become overshadowed by the more popular Chicago Bears . The Bidwills hoped to move their franchise, preferably to St. Louis , but could not come to terms with the league, which demanded money before it would approve the move. Needing cash, the Bidwills began entertaining offers from would-be investors, and one of the men who approached
9545-494: The league, Hilton Hotels forced Barron Hilton to relinquish his stake in the Chargers as a condition of maintaining his leadership role with the hotel chain. The same month Davis was named commissioner, several NFL owners, headed by Dallas Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm, secretly approached Lamar Hunt and other AFL owners and started negotiations with the AFL to merge. A series of secret meetings commenced in Dallas to discuss
9660-741: The limited number of rounds, so conferences were introduced so that teams were only measured against the teams they played. The system was controversial because it allowed some weak teams to make finals, and strong teams from the other conference missed out on finals. It was because of this that the conference system was removed for the 2021 season . In the United States and Canada , the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) are divided into Eastern ( NHL , NBA ) and Western ( NHL , NBA ) Conferences, with multiple divisions within each conference (two in each NHL conference, three in each NBA conference). In both leagues,
9775-528: The merger. The return of football to Kansas City was the first time that city had seen professional football since the NFL's Kansas City Blues of the 1920s; the arrival of the Chiefs, and the contemporary arrival of the St. Louis Football Cardinals , brought professional football back to Missouri for the first time since the temporary St. Louis Gunners of 1934. St. Louis would later regain an NFL franchise in 1995 with
9890-470: The new American Football Conference . To avoid having an inequitable number of teams in each conference, the leagues voted to move three NFL teams to the AFC. Motivated by the prospect of an intrastate rivalry with the Bengals as well as by personal animosity toward Paul Brown , Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell quickly offered to include his team in the AFC. He helped persuade the Pittsburgh Steelers (
10005-611: The new league, convinced Adams to join and found his team in Houston . Hunt next secured an agreement from Howsam to bring a team to Denver . After Winter and Boyer agreed to start a team in Minneapolis-Saint Paul , the new league had its first four teams. Hunt then approached Willard Rhodes, who hoped to bring pro football to Seattle . However, not wanting to undermine its own brand, the University of Washington
10120-429: The new owners changed the team's name to the New York Jets . The Raiders and Titans both finished last in their divisions in the 1962 season. The Texans and Oilers, winners of their divisions, faced each other for the 1962 AFL Championship on December 23. The Texans dethroned the two-time champion Oilers, 20–17, in a double- overtime contest that was, at the time, professional football's longest-ever game. In 1963,
10235-574: The now Charlotte Hornets began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the New Orleans Pelicans from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the newly created Southwest Division of the Western Conference . The NBA first started awarding an Eastern Conference championship trophy during the 2000–01 season , renaming it after Hall of Famer Bob Cousy in the 2021–22 season . Also in 2021–22,
10350-506: The overall competition table that were not already qualified. In the same sport, Pro14, now known as the United Rugby Championship , adopted a conference system effective in 2017–18 , following the addition of the two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby. The competition split into two conferences, each featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales, plus single teams from Italy, Scotland and South Africa. Following
10465-400: The phrase "World Champions"), Gillman approached NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and proposed a final championship game between the two teams. Rozelle declined the offer; however, the game would be instituted three seasons later. A series of events throughout the next few years demonstrated the AFL's ability to achieve a greater level of equality with the NFL. On January 29, 1964, the AFL signed
10580-558: The playoffs by winning their respective divisions despite losing records (7–9 for the Seahawks and Washington, 7–8–1 for the Panthers). These are the only teams ever to qualify for the playoffs with losing records in seasons that were not shortened by strikes (as in 1982 , which was shortened from 16 to 9 games). In addition, a team's regular season schedule is weighted towards more games against other teams within their own division and to
10695-522: The promised Dallas team – the Dallas Cowboys – actually started play in 1960, and the Vikings began play in 1961.) Finally, the NFL quickly came to terms with the Bidwills and allowed them to relocate the struggling Cardinals to St. Louis, eliminating that city as a potential AFL market. Ralph Wilson , who owned a minority interest in the NFL's Detroit Lions at the time, initially announced he
10810-660: The relocation of the LA Rams to the city. The Rams moved back in 2016. In the case of the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL had long sought to return to the Dallas area after the Dallas Texans folded in 1952, but was originally met with strong opposition by Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall , who had enjoyed a monopoly as the only NFL team to represent the American South. Marshall later changed his position after future-Cowboys owner Clint Murchison bought
10925-473: The rights to Washington's fight song " Hail to the Redskins " and threatened to prevent Marshall from playing it at games. By then, the NFL wanted to quickly award the new Dallas franchise to Murchison so the team could immediately begin play and compete with the AFL's Texans. As a result, the Cowboys played its inaugural season in 1960 without the benefit of the NFL draft . The Texans eventually ceded Dallas to
11040-543: The second most trips to the Super Bowl (tied with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos , trailing only the New England Patriots ), and have won six Super Bowl championships, tied with the Patriots for the most in NFL history. Perhaps the greatest social legacy of the AFL was the domino effect of its policy of being more liberal than the entrenched NFL in offering opportunity for black players . While
11155-739: The states to play in the AFL. In the league's first years, players such as Oilers' George Blanda , Chargers/Bills' Jack Kemp , Texans' Len Dawson , the NY Titans' Don Maynard , Raiders/Patriots/Jets' Babe Parilli , Pats' Bob Dee proved to be AFL standouts. Other players such as the Broncos' Frank Tripucka , the Pats' Gino Cappelletti , the Bills' Cookie Gilchrist and the Chargers' Tobin Rote , Sam DeLuca and Dave Kocourek also made their mark to give
11270-543: The team playing in the San Francisco Bay Area —which already had an established NFL team (the San Francisco 49ers )—but the product on the field was also to blame. After winning six games in their debut season, the Raiders won a total of three times in the 1961 and 1962 seasons. Oakland took part in a 1961 supplemental draft meant to boost the weaker teams in the league, but it did little good. They participated in another such draft in 1962. The Titans fared
11385-753: The team's exclusive lease, and additionally, signed an extension to keep some home games in Milwaukee until 1976. In June 1965, the AFL awarded its first expansion team to Cox Broadcasting of Atlanta . The NFL quickly counteroffered insurance executive Rankin Smith a franchise, which he accepted; the Atlanta Falcons began play as an NFL franchise for the 1966 season. In March 1965, Joe Robbie had met with Commissioner Foss to inquire about an expansion franchise for Miami . On May 6, Robbie secured an agreement with Miami mayor Robert King High to bring
11500-772: The top 40 metropolitan areas, a fact that has precluded any other competing league from gaining traction since the merger; failed attempts to mimic the AFL's success included the World Football League (1974–75), United States Football League (1983–85), the United Football League (2009–2012) and the AAF (2019), and two iterations of the XFL ( 2001 and 2020 ), in addition to the NFL-backed and created World League of American Football (1991–92). The AFL
11615-484: The top three seeds, even if their record is lower than the league's top wild card teams . In all five sports, the champion of one conference (or league in MLB's case) plays the champion of the other conference for the final round championship, this is guaranteed to occur because the rules for the playoffs require play to be exclusively within the conference/league in all rounds before the final round, leaving only two teams for
11730-402: The two league champions first played in early 1967, which would eventually become known as the Super Bowl . The AFL and NFL operated as separate leagues until 1970, with separate regular season and playoff schedules except for the championship game. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle also became chief executive of the AFL from July 26, 1966, through the completion of the merger. During this time
11845-407: The two regional leagues were renamed National League North and National League South . This does not strictly meet the definition indicated in the previous sections of this article, as each individual league mentioned in this section is a separate competition. The only times that teams from different leagues compete against one another in meaningful matches are in knockout cup competitions, such as
11960-490: Was Oakland Raiders head coach and general manager Al Davis , who had been instrumental in turning around the fortunes of that franchise. That following May, Wellington Mara , owner of the NFL's New York Giants , broke a "gentleman's agreement" against signing another league's players and lured kicker Pete Gogolak away from the AFL's Buffalo Bills. In response to the Gogolak signing and no longer content with trying to outbid
12075-413: Was also the most successful of numerous upstart leagues of the 1960s and 1970s that attempted to challenge a major professional league's dominance. All nine teams that were in the AFL at the time the merger was agreed upon were accepted into the league intact (as was the tenth team added between the time of the merger's agreement and finalization), and none of the AFL's teams have ever folded. For comparison,
12190-457: Was awarded the AFL's eighth team. On November 30, 1959, Joe Foss , a World War II Marine fighter ace and former governor of South Dakota , was named the AFL's first commissioner. Foss commissioned a friend of Harry Wismer's to develop the AFL's eagle-on-football logo. Hunt was elected President of the AFL on January 26, 1960. The AFL's first draft took place the same day Boston was awarded its franchise, and lasted 33 rounds. The league held
12305-528: Was formed. After initially being called the Oakland Señors, the rechristened Oakland Raiders officially joined the AFL on January 30, 1960. The AFL's first major success came when the Houston Oilers signed Billy Cannon , the All-American and 1959 Heisman Trophy winner from LSU . Cannon signed a $ 100,000 contract to play for the Oilers, despite having already signed a $ 50,000 contract with
12420-494: Was instrumental in his city's success in attracting the team. Partly to honor Bartle, the franchise officially became the Kansas City Chiefs on May 26. The San Diego Chargers, under head coach Sid Gillman , won a decisive 51–10 victory over the Boston Patriots for the 1963 AFL Championship. Confident that his team was capable of beating that season's NFL champion Chicago Bears (he had the Chargers' rings inscribed with
12535-616: Was placing a team in Miami , but like the Seattle situation, was also rebuffed by local ownership (like Seattle, Miami would later get a pro football team of its own as well); given five other choices, Wilson negotiated with McGroder and brought the team that became the Bills to Buffalo. Buffalo was officially awarded its franchise on October 28. During a league meeting on November 22, a 10-man ownership group from Boston (led by Billy Sullivan )
12650-563: Was played in Los Angeles. After a close first half, the NFL champion Green Bay Packers overwhelmed the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs, 35–10. The loss reinforced for many the notion that the AFL was an inferior league. Packers head coach Vince Lombardi stated after the game, "I do not think they are as good as the top teams in the National Football League." The second AFL-NFL Championship ( Super Bowl II ) yielded
12765-413: Was still primarily a gate-driven business in 1960, so low attendance meant financial losses. The Raiders, with a league-worst average attendance of just 9,612, lost $ 500,000 in their first year and only survived after receiving a $ 400,000 loan from Bills owner Ralph Wilson. In an early sign of stability, however, the AFL did not lose any teams after its first year of operation. In fact, the only major change
12880-731: Was the Chargers' move from Los Angeles to nearby San Diego (they would return to Los Angeles in 2017). On August 8, 1961, the AFL challenged the Canadian Football League to an exhibition game that would feature the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Buffalo Bills , which was attended by 24,376 spectators. Playing at Civic Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario , the Tiger-Cats defeated the Bills 38–21 playing
12995-496: Was to begin play in 1961, never played a single game, largely because MLB responded to the proposal by expanding to four of that league's proposed cities. Historically, the only other professional sports league in the United States to exhibit a comparable level of franchise stability from its inception was the American League of Major League Baseball , which made its debut in the early 20th century. The NFL adopted some of
13110-554: Was unwilling to let the fledgling league use Husky Stadium , and Rhodes' effort came to nothing (Seattle would later get a pro football team of its own in 1974 some time after the AFL-NFL merger during the construction of the Kingdome and began play in 1976). Hunt also sought franchises in Los Angeles, Buffalo and New York City. During the summer of 1959, he sought the blessings of the NFL for his nascent league, as he did not seek
13225-573: Was viewed as a key victory for the AFL, Namath signed a $ 427,000 contract with the Jets on January 2, 1965 (the deal included a new car). It was the highest amount of money ever paid to a collegiate football player, and is cited as the strongest contributing factor to the eventual merger between the two leagues. After the 1963 season, the Newark Bears of the Atlantic Coast Football League expressed interest in joining
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