The AFL–NFL merger, announced on June 8, 1966, was a pivotal moment in American professional football, bringing together the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). This historic agreement laid the groundwork for the combined league, which retained the NFL name and logo, to become the dominant sports league in the United States. The merger was not merely a handshake deal; it was the culmination of years of intense rivalry,
strategic maneuvering, and a shared recognition that continued competition was unsustainable for both leagues.
The Pre-Merger Landscape: Rivalry and Financial Strain
Before the merger, the NFL had a long history of fending off rival leagues. Its most significant competitor prior to 1960 was the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), which operated from 1946 to 1949. The AAFC ultimately disbanded due to financial difficulties, though three of its teams—the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and the original Baltimore Colts—were absorbed into the NFL in 1950. The Browns, in particular, shocked NFL loyalists by winning the championship in their first NFL season, proving their competitive strength.
The emergence of the American Football League in 1960 presented a new and formidable challenge. The AFL's owners, on average, were wealthier than their NFL counterparts, a critical advantage. Lamar Hunt, son of Texas oil magnate H. L. Hunt, was instrumental in forming the AFL after his attempts to gain ownership of an NFL team or an expansion franchise in Dallas were rebuffed. Hunt successfully recruited owners with deep pockets and the patience to absorb early financial losses. Despite initial bad press and the NFL's dismissive attitude, the AFL survived and began to prosper in the mid-1960s, buoyed by strategic team relocations, the rebranding of the New York Titans to the Jets, and significant player signings like Joe Namath's unprecedented $427,000 contract. The league's financial stability was further cemented by NBC's $36 million, five-year contract to televise AFL games starting in 1965.
The Escalation of Competition and Secret Negotiations
The rivalry between the two leagues intensified, leading to costly bidding wars over top college prospects. Both leagues held their respective drafts on the same day in the late fall, driving up player salaries to unprecedented levels. NFL teams had a long-standing policy of drafting and retaining rights to players who signed with other leagues, a practice they extended to AFL players. The AFL reciprocated this arrangement, leading to a "gentlemen's agreement" where both leagues honored each other's player contracts, including reserve clauses, to prevent signing players under contract with a rival team. However, owners in both leagues feared that these reserve clauses would not withstand legal challenges, a fear that proved well-founded when the World Hockey Association later successfully challenged the National Hockey League's similar clause.
Despite the NFL consistently outdrawing the AFL in attendance, especially in the AFL's early seasons, NFL owners recognized they did not have unlimited resources to sustain a protracted bidding war. The NFL also initially held a media advantage, with influential figures like Sports Illustrated's lead football writer Tex Maule, a former public relations director for the L.A. Rams under Pete Rozelle, and Dallas Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm, a close friend of Rozelle, shaping public perception. CBS, the NFL's national TV partner, employed former NFL players as announcers and notably omitted AFL scores and reports.
Secret discussions for a merger were initiated by the NFL through Tex Schramm, who contacted AFL owners, led by Lamar Hunt. These talks proceeded without the knowledge of Al Davis, the new AFL commissioner. On the evening of June 8, 1966, the merger agreement was publicly announced in New York.
The Merger Agreement and its Implementation
Under the merger agreement, the leagues maintained separate regular-season schedules from 1966 through 1969. A final championship game, which would become known as the Super Bowl, was established between the two league champions. The leagues officially merged before the 1970 season, forming one league with two conferences. Pete Rozelle, the NFL Commissioner, quickly endorsed the agreement and was appointed chief executive of the AFL after Al Davis resigned as AFL Commissioner on July 25, 1966. Milt Woodard, assistant commissioner under previous AFL leaders, was appointed President of the AFL, a role Rozelle generally respected, though he did intervene in AFL affairs, such as forcing Joe Namath to divest his stake in a New York nightclub.
A crucial aspect of the merger's implementation was securing a law from the 89th U.S. Congress to exempt the combined league from antitrust sanctions. During appearances before Congress' Subcommittee on Antitrust, NFL Commissioner Rozelle made three key promises: no existing professional football franchise would be moved as a result of the merger, the combined league would eventually expand to 28 teams, and stadiums seating less than 50,000 would be deemed inadequate, compelling teams to expand or relocate. Congress passed the new law in October, allowing the merger to proceed.
As 1970 approached, three NFL teams—the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers—agreed to join the ten AFL teams to form the American Football Conference (AFC). The remaining thirteen NFL teams became part of the National Football Conference (NFC). The new conferences were designed to be of equal size, each aligned into three divisions of four or five teams. While AFC teams quickly decided on a geographically based divisional alignment, the 13 NFC owners struggled. The final NFC alignment was determined by drawing one of five proposed combinations from a fishbowl, with Plan 3 being selected by Rozelle's secretary, Thelma Elkjer. This plan notably kept Minnesota in the Central Division and Dallas in the Eastern Division. The stability of the combined league was further ensured by all three major television networks signing contracts to televise games: CBS for NFC road games, NBC for AFC road games, and ABC for Monday Night Football, making the NFL the first league with a regular series of national prime-time telecasts. Since 1970, the Super Bowl has featured the champions of the AFC and NFC, determined by a playoff tournament that combined elements of both leagues' previous formats, including the introduction of the "wild card" team.
