National Football League
An American football league consisting of 32 clubs, evenly split between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC), the National Football League (NFL) is a professional football league based in the United States (AFC). A professional football league in North America, the NFL is one of four main North American professional sports leagues, and it is the highest level of professional American football competition in the globe. Every club plays seventeen games and receives one bye week during the NFL's eighteen-week regular season, which spans from early September to late January. A total of seven teams from each conference (four division winners and three wild card teams) advance to the playoffs, which are a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, which is usually held on February 1st and features the champions of the National Football Conference (NFC) and American Football Conference (AFC). With its headquarters in New York City, the league has a large international following.
As the American Professional Football Association (APFA), the NFL was founded in 1920. For the 1922 season, it changed its name to the National Football League. It wasn't until 1933 that the NFL established a playoff system, which culminated in the Super Bowl until 1966. Initially, the champions were determined by the end-of-season standings. Since the merger of the National Football League (NFL) and the rival American Football League (AFL) was completed in 1970, the Super Bowl has been held to determine a champion between the best teams from both leagues. The Super Bowl was first played in 1967 to determine a champion between the best teams from both leagues. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance (67,591) of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States, according to Sports Illustrated. Super Bowl XLVII is also one of the most important club sporting events in the world, with the individual games accounting for many of the most watched television programmes in American history, with all five games ranking among the top five most watched television broadcasts in the United States according to Nielsen by 2015. It is the most profitable professional sports league in terms of income and the sports league that has the most valued clubs in terms of market capitalization.
Currently, the Green Bay Packers hold the record for the most total NFL championships with thirteen, having won nine titles before to the advent of the Super Bowl and four Super Bowls after that. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots have won the most Super Bowl championships since the game's inception, both with six victories.