The AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, and added two more expansion clubs (the Miami Dolphins in 1966 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968) before the merger.
The AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, and added two more expansion clubs (the Miami Dolphins in 1966 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968) before the merger.
The two AFL divisions AFL East and AFL West were more or less intact, while the NFL's Century Division, in which the Browns and the Steelers had played since 1967, was moved from the NFL to become the new AFC Central.
The AFL began play in 1960 with eight teams, and added two more expansion clubs (the Miami Dolphins in 1966 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968) before the merger.
Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 merger between the National Football League, and the American Football League (AFL).
The AFC champion then plays the NFC champion in the Super Bowl. ==History== Both the AFC and the NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970.
Upon the completion of the merger of the AFL and NFL in 1970, the newly minted American Football Conference had already agreed upon their divisional setup along mostly geographical lines for the 1970 season; the National Football Conference, however, could not agree upon their setup, and one was chosen from a fishbowl on January 16, 1970. Since the merger, five expansion teams have joined the AFC and two have left, thus making the current total 16.
The AFC logo basically remained unchanged from 1970 to 2009.
The 2010 NFL season introduced an updated AFC logo, with the most notable revision being the removal of two stars (leaving four representing the four divisions of the AFC), and moving the stars inside the letter, similar to the NFC logo. ==Television== NBC aired the AFC's Sunday afternoon and playoff games from 1970 through the 1997 season.
Since 1990, select AFC playoffs games have been seen on ABC or ESPN. ==References== National Football League Conference Sports organizations established in 1970
When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were temporarily placed in the NFC and AFC respectively.
The Ravens were treated as an expansion team. In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, back to Oakland in 1995, and then to Las Vegas in 2020, while the San Diego Chargers returned to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. The Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers.
In 1984, the Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis.
Since 1990, select AFC playoffs games have been seen on ABC or ESPN. ==References== National Football League Conference Sports organizations established in 1970
The expansion Jacksonville Jaguars joined the AFC in 1995.
In 1995, the Cleveland Browns had attempted to move to Baltimore; the resulting dispute between Cleveland and the team led to Modell establishing the Baltimore Ravens with the players and personnel from the Browns, while the Browns were placed in suspended operations before they were reinstated by the NFL.
The Ravens were treated as an expansion team. In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, back to Oakland in 1995, and then to Las Vegas in 2020, while the San Diego Chargers returned to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. The Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers.
With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that time, the divisional setup has remained static ever since. Between 1995 and 2019, the AFC has sent only half of its 16 teams to the Super Bowl: New England Patriots (10 times), Denver Broncos (4 times), Pittsburgh Steelers (4 times), Baltimore Ravens (2 times), Indianapolis Colts (2 times), Kansas City Chiefs (1 time), Las Vegas Raiders (1 time), and Tennessee Titans (1 time).
The Ravens were treated as an expansion team. In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, back to Oakland in 1995, and then to Las Vegas in 2020, while the San Diego Chargers returned to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. The Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers.
The 2010 NFL season introduced an updated AFC logo, with the most notable revision being the removal of two stars (leaving four representing the four divisions of the AFC), and moving the stars inside the letter, similar to the NFC logo. ==Television== NBC aired the AFC's Sunday afternoon and playoff games from 1970 through the 1997 season.
From 1998 to 2013, CBS was the primary broadcast rightsholder to the AFC; in those years, all interconference games in which the AFC team was the visiting team were broadcast on either NBC or CBS.
The Seahawks eventually returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment.
The team would change its name again, two years later, to the Tennessee Titans. The NFL would again expand in 2002, adding the Houston Texans to the AFC.
The AFC logo basically remained unchanged from 1970 to 2009.
The 2010 NFL season introduced an updated AFC logo, with the most notable revision being the removal of two stars (leaving four representing the four divisions of the AFC), and moving the stars inside the letter, similar to the NFC logo. ==Television== NBC aired the AFC's Sunday afternoon and playoff games from 1970 through the 1997 season.
From 1998 to 2013, CBS was the primary broadcast rightsholder to the AFC; in those years, all interconference games in which the AFC team was the visiting team were broadcast on either NBC or CBS.
Since 2014, the cross-flex policy allows select AFC games (that involve them playing an NFC team at home or intraconference games) to be moved from CBS to Fox.
The Ravens were treated as an expansion team. In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, back to Oakland in 1995, and then to Las Vegas in 2020, while the San Diego Chargers returned to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. The Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers.
With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that time, the divisional setup has remained static ever since. Between 1995 and 2019, the AFC has sent only half of its 16 teams to the Super Bowl: New England Patriots (10 times), Denver Broncos (4 times), Pittsburgh Steelers (4 times), Baltimore Ravens (2 times), Indianapolis Colts (2 times), Kansas City Chiefs (1 time), Las Vegas Raiders (1 time), and Tennessee Titans (1 time).
The current AFC champions are the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the Buffalo Bills in the 2020 AFC Championship Game for their second consecutive conference championship. ==Teams== Like the NFC, the conference has 16 teams organized into four divisions each with four teams: East, North, South and West. ==Season structure== This chart of the 2020 season standings displays an application of the NFL scheduling formula.
The Chiefs in 2020 (highlighted in green) finished in first place in the AFC West.
The Ravens were treated as an expansion team. In California, the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, back to Oakland in 1995, and then to Las Vegas in 2020, while the San Diego Chargers returned to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego. The Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed the Tennessee Oilers.
Using the 2021 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the AFC West plays against every team in the AFC North and NFC East.
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