The world’s biggest league
The National Football League starts its 107th season Wednesday, Sept. 9, so we look at how it began and what it is today.
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The father
Walter Camp, often called the “Father of Football,” was a rugby player at Yale from 1876 to 1882. During that time, Camp, the head of the football rules committee, defined and created the principles of football, many of which are still true today. Camp came up with the concept of downs, possession, team numbers, formations and scoring (that has changed some).
The birth of professional football
The first professional football game was played on Nov. 12, 1892, between the Allegheny Athletic Association (AAA) and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club (PAC) at Exposition Park in Allegheny. The two teams had been bitter rivals. Three weeks before the Nov. 12 game, they had played each other and split gate receipts of $1,200. William “Pudge” Hefflefinger, a college All-American at Yale, was paid $500 to play in the game for AAA. Hefflefinger ran a loose football back 35 yards for a touchdown to lead AAA to a 4-0 victory.
Birth of the NFL
In 1920, the National Football League, which was then called the American Professional Football Association, was founded. There were originally 14 teams, three of which still exist: the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers.
Modern pro football began in 1932 with the first championship game. There were eight teams in the league. The Bears beat the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in an extra game because the teams had the same winning percentage during the regular season. In 1933, the NFL was divided into the East and West Divisions.
That year, the winners met in the championship game, where the Bears defeated the Giants 23-21, it was the first true playoff game.
It’s time for Dodgers football?
The first televised NFL game took place on Oct. 22, 1939, when NBC broadcast a match between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
What’s new
There will be a record nine international games this season spanning seven countries. The NFL will play regular-season games in France and Australia for the first time.
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the Packers will play the Rams in a game that will stream on Netflix.
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Between seasons, there were 10 coaching changes, which ties an NFL record for one offseason. Six of the new hires are getting their shot at being an NFL head coach for the first time.
The Buffalo Bills will play this season in a new stadium next to where they used to play.
International game schedule:
The English Premier League (soccer) has the biggest global reach of any sports league, and Major League Baseball’s origins date back 150 years, but the NFL is the undisputed king at making money.
The NFL is one of the few leagues that has a salary cap for team spending. The 2026 NFL salary cap overview limit is $301,200,000 per club, up from 2025 by $22 million.
The NFL’s 32 teams generated an estimated $22.2 billion in 2024, up 8% from 2023, and total NFL revenue topped $23 billion, as some revenue stays at the league level. It is well ahead of the pace needed to meet commissioner Roger Goodell’s 2010 revenue target of $25 billion by 2027 — which raised eyebrows at the time, when league revenues were $8 billion.
Current longest streak without winning a playoff game:
Dolphins (25 seasons)
Raiders (23 seasons)
New York Jets (15 seasons)
Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers (10 seasons)
Teams that have never appeared in a Super Bowl:
Browns, Texans, Jaguars and Lions
Sources: NFL, NFL Encyclopedia, NFL Hall of Fame, SportsValue.com, Sportico, Forbes, Underarmor
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