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. In 1966, the NFL agreed to merge with the rival American Football League (AFL), effective 1970 the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that same season in January 1967. The NFL was formed on August 20, 1920, as the American Professional Football Conference the league changed its name to the American Professional Football Association (APFA) on September 17, 1920, and changed its name to the National Football League on June 24, 1922, after spending the 19 seasons as the APFA. Sometimes, there are also Saturday games during the last few weeks of the regular season. There are games on Saturdays during the first two playoff weekends. Most games are played on Sunday afternoons some games are also played on Mondays and Thursdays during the regular season. Various other awards exist to recognize individual players and coaches. The champions of the Super Bowl are awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Out of the league’s 32 teams, six (four division winners and two wild-card teams) from each conference compete in the NFL playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.
The highest professional level of the sport in the world, the NFL runs a 17-week regular season from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing sixteen games and having one bye week each season. It is composed of 32 teams divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that constitutes one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America.