NFL TimeLine

NFL Organized

Sep 17, 1920

Organized in Canton on Sept. 17, 1920, as the American Professional Football Association, the league was renamed the NFL in 1922

NFL First Game

Oct 3, 1920

n Oct. 3, 1920, the Dayton Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14-0 in the first game between two members of the National Football League.

First Black Coach

May 11, 1921

Fritz Pollard was the first African-American Head Coach in the professional football. He coached the Akron Pros.

First Night Game

Nov 6, 1929

November 6, 1929
The Chicago Cardinals defeated the Providence Steam Roller, 16-0.

NFL Championship

Dec 24, 1933

The first championship game was played in 1933. This rose popularity in the NFL

First NFL Draft Pick

Feb 8, 1936

First NFL Draft Pick
8 Feb 1936 February 8, 1936
A halfback by the name of Jay Berwanger holds the distinction of being the very first NFL draft pick and the first Heismann Trophy winner.

First NFL TV Game

Sep 25, 1939

First Televised Game An NFL game airs on television for the first time, with NBC producing a local broadcast of a game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Eagles. Since fewer than 1,000 TV sets are known to exist in New York at the time, it is unclear whether anyone actually watches the broadcast.

First African-Americans to play in The NFL

Sep 25, 1946

1946 First African-Americans The Los Angeles Rams sign former UCLA stars Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, who will become the first African-Americans to play in the NFL in the modern era, ending 13 years of whites-only football in the league.

First Helmet Logo

Oct 25, 1948

1948 First Helmet Logo The Los Angeles Rams become the first NFL team to wear a helmet logo, painting rams' horns onto their leather hats.

AAFC Merger

Nov 24, 1960

Eastern Division renamed to American Conference
Western Division renamed to National Conference
San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, and the first Baltimore Colts all enfranchised from now-defunct All-America Football Conference. The Colts fold after the 1950 season.
New York Bulldogs change name to New York Yanks, move to National Conference
Chicago Cardinals move to American Conference

Antitrust Exemption

Sep 25, 1961

Antitrust Exemption The NFL wins a special antitrust exemption from Congress, authorizing the sale of league-wide television broadcast rights and the distribution of resulting revenues in equal shares to all league teams. Almost immediately, Commissioner Pete Rozelle negotiates the NFL's first national TV deal, in which CBS agrees to pay the league $4.65 million a year for exclusive broadcast rights.

NFL Properties Created

Nov 16, 1961

1963 NFL Properties Created NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle creates NFL Properties, Inc. to manage the licensing of league logos and insignias. NFL Properties will eventually become a billion-dollar business in its own right.

Money in TV

Sep 25, 1964

1964 Money in TV The NFL and AFL both negotiate lucrative new television deals. NBC offers the AFL $36 million for five years, while CBS gives the NFL $28.2 million for two years.

First Super Bowl

Jan 15, 1967

Jan 15, 1967 First Super Bowl The NFL's Green Bay Packers easily defeat the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs to win the first Super Bowl. More than 32,000 tickets go unsold for the game, held in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but the game draws more television viewers than any previous sporting event.

NFL AFL Mercher

Sep 6, 1970

1970[edit]
AFL and NFL merge AFL Eastern and Western Divisions become AFC East and AFC West, respectively
AFC Central formed.
NFL Century Division becomes AFC Central[citation needed]
NFL Capitol Division becomes NFC East[citation needed]
NFL Central Division becomes NFC Central[citation needed]
NFL Coastal Division becomes NFC West[citation needed] Baltimore moves to AFC East
Houston moves to AFC Central
Cincinnati moves to AFC Central
St. Louis moves to NFC East
New York Giants move to NFC Ea

Most watched program in US History

Feb 10, 2004

The New England Patriots won their second Super Bowl in three years by defeating the NFC champion Carolina Panthers 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The game was witnessed by 144.4 million viewers, making Super Bowl XXXVIII the most-watched program in U.S. television history, February 1.

Anheuser Deal With NFL

Nov 1, 2008

Anheuser-Busch NFL deal worth $1.2 billion

Verizon Deal

Sep 1, 2011

deal with Verizon Wireless—a four-year, $1 billion deal

PepsiCo, NFL renew sponsorship deal

Sep 6, 2011

That's nearly $1 billion over the length of the contract to make its Pepsi, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, Tropicana and Quaker Oats brands official marketing partners of the league.

TV Brocasting Deals

Sep 26, 2011

In 2011 the NFL signed rights deals with NBC, CBS CBS -1.84%, Fox and ESPN that amount to $42 billion of revenue over the course of the pacts.

Fantasy FootBall

Sep 26, 2011

The league’s fantasy game rights could also go for at least $100 million a year.

Labor Deal

Oct 1, 2011

A new labor deal. The 2011 collective bargaining agreement ends in 2020. Labor peace is essential for the league’s economic growth. Expect Goodell and the owners to start trying to get a new deal done sometime well before the current one expires.

Player Endorsments

Sep 26, 2012

Brees has become one of the NFL's most successful pitchman with a dozen endorsement deals, including Nike, Procter & Gamble, Verizon Wireless, PepsiCo and Wrangler. His 2012 contract extension with the Saints included a $37 million signing bonus.

Demographics

Sep 25, 2014

Men 18-49
- Women 18-49
- Kids 17 and under
- Baby Boomers
- Household income of $50,000+

NFL 2014 and Beyond

Sep 26, 2014

NFL Continues to make more reviwe then ever