A History of the NFL: Key Milestones That Changed the Game Forever

February 24, 2025 by Staff

The beginnings of the National Football League can be somewhat complicated to trace as they try to harken back to the 1890's and the first known instances of local organizations paying players to compete against other local clubs. The NFL itself was not established until 1922, but it wasn't until 1926 that it became for more representative of the entire country. The Minneapolis Line of the 1930's became the first basis of bookies to take wagers. In recent years, the sport has flourished as NFL sportsbooks have become more accessible, and legal in most states.

1926 is the year the league added the Los Angeles Buccaneers and the New York Giants as it grew to 22 teams, more than it would equal again until 1961. The Los Angeles franchise was not welcomed to play home games so it faltered as a traveling club. The Giants had actually been established in 1925 by what became the well-known Mara Family when Timothy and a partner paid $2,500 to be awarded a team.

By the late 1930's, there were far fewer teams as all were concentrating on the major cities. Incredibly, they played and survived with rosters limited to 30 players.

The league did not really take off until after the end of World War II, but 33 players were still the max in 1956. Rosters now contain 53 'active' players, as well as a practice squad.

The Merger That Shaped the League: NFL & AFL Unite (1970)

The American Football League was established in 1960 and became a strong rival to the NFL by 1965 as major television networks contracted air the games. It was overall regarded as a more wide-open offensive and exciting brand of football. With this acceptance, the first AFL-NFL Championship game was played at the conclusion of the 1966 season between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. A total of four world championships were played before the leagues merged for the start of the 1970 season. The championship game was first name the Super Bowl for the 1969 matchup (1968 season) of the Baltimore Colts and the New York Jets when the AFL Jets and Joe Namath shocked the Johnny Unitas-led Colts. Hunt's own team would win the next 'Super Bowl' in 1970 (1969 season) over the NFL's Minnesota Vikings.

Image credit: oguard62.net

The Super Bowl name is credited to Lamar Hunt, owner of the Chiefs.

All AFL teams, and all AFL records, were absorbed into the National Football League by the start of the 1970 season and 26 teams competed throughout two conferences and six divisions.

The Super Bowl Era: From Humble Beginnings to Global Spectacle

The first three Super Bowls had a ticket price of $12 which sounds cheap - and it is - but it would equal spending $112 today. It was raised to $15 for Super Bowl 4 and stayed there through the 1974 game. By the end of the 1980's it would set you back and average of $100, and it hit $1,000 for the first time in 2009. The average topped $8000 this year, though the lowest face-value tickets were $800.

Obviously, the Super Bowl has become one of the world's most-watched events, though the sport is dominated almost exclusively by American players. The world's version of football, soccer, is played in virtually every country and has far more participants.

The NFL has done a tremendous job of marketing its league to other locations on the globe by staging games in England, Mexico, Brazil and Germany.

The Super Bowl has drawn additional viewers for more than just the game as it became noted for fresh commercials, as well as world-class, if sometimes controversial, entertainment.

Rule Changes That Revolutionized the Sport

Another aspect in which football is undoubtedly a unique sport is that it is quite flexible in terms of changing the rules. The founders and governing bodies of the sport were quite actively involved from the very beginning at molding the rules to enhance player safety, open up the offense, and appeal to a wider audience. However, the league has also been often criticized for adopting rules that have not been accepted well by the general public. As the saying goes, you can't please everyone.

Nonetheless, the sport continues to be intense and interesting to watch it's great athletes.

The Expansion Era: New Teams, New Markets

Since the AFL-NFL merger, the league has continued to add, and sometimes, lose franchises. Today, there are 32 teams with four divisions of four teams each spread across two conferences.

The Super Bowl itself has now been won by 20 of those 32 teams. Only four current teams have failed to even appear in a single Super Bowl with the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns standing out as the oldest franchises not to do so. The others are Jacksonville and both versions of Houston - the Texans and their predecessor, the Oilers.

Since the NFL's inception, the sport has concurrently grown at the youth, high school and collegiate levels. Flag football can be found everywhere, as can frisbee and touch versions of the sport. The National Football League has become one of the world's best-known brands of sport.