The National Football League (NFL) was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA), adopting its current name in 1922 and becoming the first successful nationwide professional league. Two founding teams, the Chicago Bears (originally Decatur Staleys) and the Arizona Cardinals (Racine Cardinals), remain active today, highlighting its enduring legacy. After stabilizing through the 1930s, holding its first championship in 1933, and notably reintegrating Black players in 1946, the NFL significantly expanded by absorbing teams from rival leagues.
The emergence of the rival American Football League (AFL) in 1960 eventually led to a landmark merger, creating the iconic Super Bowl—now the most-watched annual sporting event in the U.S. This expansion and strategic labor and television agreements have cemented the NFL as one of America's most profitable sports leagues, uniquely avoiding any regular-season work stoppages since 1990.