National Football League

Background

The National Football League is the premier professional organization for American football, with 32 teams in two conferences and almost 1,700 active players. Each team plays 17 regular-season games from September through early January, with a league championship game in February. 

The NFL generated nearly $20B in revenue in 2023. With its teams valued at $163B combined, it is the most valuable sports league in the world (see team values). 

History

Football was wildly popular but disorganized in the early 1900s. In an effort to standardize and organize the sport, the NFL was formed in 1920 in Canton, Ohio. The city became the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

To alleviate financial disparity among teams, the NFL held its first draft of college players in 1936. The once-modest event gave birth to scouting departments, standardized evaluations of collegiate players, and opened a pathway to a professional career. 

A rival American Football League was formed in 1959. Newly appointed NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle first fought against, then merged with the AFL in 1967, creating the Super Bowl. The game, along with its iconic commercials and halftime shows, has become one of the most-watched television events every year. 

Rozelle’s early TV rights deals helped put football in American living rooms, and the creation of NFL Films helped memorialize games. He also created NFL Properties, the licensing arm of the NFL, which generated team loyalty across the country. These shrewd moves were instrumental in the economic growth of the league through Rozelle’s retirement in 1989.  

In 1995, the NFL became the first major sports league to establish a website. In 2002, it began featuring fantasy games on the site, tapping into what is now a $10B industry.  

Evolution of Rules

American football began as a hybrid of soccer and rugby on post-Civil War college campuses. Walter Camp is widely credited with evolving the rules of the modern game, including the adoption of the forward pass in 1906 (read bio). 

Football’s early days were violent, and player deaths from head injuries were common. John Riddell’s first helmet was adopted by college teams in 1939 with the NFL making helmets mandatory in 1943. 

Starting in the 1970s, the NFL developed rules to protect players, including outlawing head slaps, certain types of blocks, and hits on defenseless players. Personal fouls and fines were introduced to deter rulebreakers. 

The NFL created the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee in 1994, and a sideline concussion protocol was introduced in 2011. Later, outside research provided clear links between chronic traumatic encephalopathy and former football players (read report). In 2011, nearly 5,000 former NFL players sued and later settled with the league for concussion-related head injuries.

Future

The popularity of the NFL has made it a global sport. In 2005, the league played its first regular-season game outside the US in Mexico City. The success led to the International Series in 2007, which started in London and has since expanded to Germany and Brazil. 

For decades, the NFL was against sports betting. But when states began legalizing it in 2018, the NFL embraced the change. The league forged partnerships with sports betting companies, allowed the Washington Commanders to have a sportsbook inside their stadium, and moved a team to Las Vegas. League and team personnel cannot bet on any sport, while players can bet on nonfootball games.