National Football League

Who owns the NFL?
The NFL is owned collectively by its 32 member team owners through a trade association structure. Each team is independently owned by individuals, families, or ownership groups, and these teams collectively own the NFL. Roger Goodell serves as Commissioner, appointed by the team owners.

Is the NFL publicly traded?
No, the NFL is not publicly traded as a league. Individual NFL teams are privately owned. The Green Bay Packers are the only publicly owned NFL team, owned by thousands of shareholders through a non-profit structure, but the league itself is not traded on any stock exchange.

What is the NFL's annual revenue?
The NFL generates approximately $20 billion in annual revenue, derived primarily from media rights, ticket sales, sponsorships, and licensing. The league's 11-year media rights deals (2023-2033) are worth approximately $113 billion in total.

When was the NFL founded?
The NFL was founded on August 20, 1920, as the American Professional Football Association in Canton, Ohio. The league was renamed the National Football League in 1922.

What is the Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl is the NFL's annual championship game, played in late January or early February. It is consistently the most-watched television event in the United States, with Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024 drawing approximately 123 million viewers, making it the most-watched U.S. television broadcast in history at that time.

Who is the NFL Commissioner?
Roger Goodell has served as NFL Commissioner since 2006, succeeding Paul Tagliabue. Goodell signed a contract extension in 2023 that will bring his total career earnings as Commissioner to over $700 million. He is responsible for league operations, player discipline, and business affairs.

The NFL was founded on August 20, 1920, as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in Canton, Ohio. Representatives from several professional football teams, including the Canton Bulldogs, Akron Pros, Cleveland Indians, and others, met at the Hupmobile automobile showroom to organize professional football. Jim Thorpe, the legendary athlete, was named the first president. The league was renamed the National Football League in 1922.

The early NFL struggled for stability and recognition, competing with college football, which was far more popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Teams frequently folded, relocated, or joined and left the league. The NFL gradually consolidated into a more stable organization through the 1930s and 1940s.

Television transformed the NFL in the 1950s and 1960s. Commissioner Bert Bell negotiated the league's first national television contract in 1951, and the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants, won by the Colts in overtime, is often called "the greatest game ever played" and is credited with establishing football as a major television sport.

The most significant structural change came with the AFL-NFL merger. The American Football League (AFL), founded in 1960, competed directly with the NFL for players and fans. The two leagues agreed to merge in 1966, with the merger completed in 1970. The merger created the Super Bowl (first played in January 1967), the modern conference structure (AFC and NFC), and a unified draft. Pete Rozelle, who served as Commissioner from 1960 to 1989, was the architect of the modern NFL, negotiating landmark television contracts and building the league into America's most popular sport.

Paul Tagliabue served as Commissioner from 1989 to 2006, overseeing the NFL's continued growth and the introduction of free agency following the 1993 collective bargaining agreement. Roger Goodell became Commissioner in 2006 and has overseen the NFL's expansion to approximately $20 billion in annual revenue.

The NFL's media rights deals have been transformative. In 2021, the NFL signed a package of media rights deals worth approximately $113 billion over 11 years (2023-2033), with CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN/ABC, and Amazon Prime Video. Amazon's deal, which gives it exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football, marked the first time a major professional sports league sold exclusive national broadcast rights to a streaming service.

Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024, played in Las Vegas and broadcast on CBS, drew approximately 123 million viewers, making it the most-watched television event in U.S. history at that time.

The NFL has faced significant controversies related to player health and safety, particularly regarding chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma. The NFL settled a class-action lawsuit with former players for approximately $1 billion in 2015, and the league has implemented rule changes and equipment standards aimed at reducing head injuries.

The league faced controversy when players including Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest racial injustice and police brutality. The protests divided public opinion and created tension between the league, its players, and some fans and sponsors.

The Washington Commanders (formerly the Washington Redskins) changed their name in 2020 following pressure from sponsors and the public over the use of a name considered offensive to Native Americans.

The NFL has also faced scrutiny related to its handling of domestic violence cases involving players, the league's response to the CTE crisis, and the management of the Las Vegas Raiders' relocation.