List Of American Football Leagues : Pro Football
The American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC) each have 32 clubs in the National Football League (NFL), a professional American football league. The NFL is the top professional American football league globally and one of the most significant professional sports leagues in the US and Canada. The American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was the original name of the NFL when it was founded in 1920, changed to the National Football League for the 1922 season.
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Arena American Football League
One of the three professional indoor American football leagues that have followed in the United States is known as the Arena Football League (AFL). The first was established in 1986, began play in the 1987 season, and continued for 22 seasons until declaring bankruptcy after the 2008 campaign.
Arena football is a lesser league that the original AFL primarily controls, and teams from that league make up the second league. Launched in 2024, the third AFL plans to be utterly unrelated to the first two league editions while still utilizing its history and trademarks.
Historically, the league operated nationwide and was acknowledged as North America’s most well-known professional indoor football league.
It was known for paying more, receiving more media attention, and having a more extended history than rival leagues. A new ownership group that had taken over the league’s social media accounts and trademarks declared on February 1, 2023, that the league will be resurrected with plans to start play in 2024.
American Indoor Football League
One of North America’s many regional professional indoor football leagues is American Indoor Football (AIF), a professional indoor football competition. In 2005, the AIFL was founded as a regional league on the US East Coast with six teams. Following a swift and primarily unsuccessful attempt at expansion in 2006, most of the league’s surviving clubs switched to the new AIFA, with the remaining teams joining the short-lived WIFL.
The AIF halted operations following the 2016 season, with the former owner expressing his support for the newly established Arena Developmental League. League owner John Morris declared 2021 that the AIF would return in 2022, but there would be no games.
National Arena League
In 2017, the (NAL) was established as a professional indoor football league. There are eight clubs in the league for the 2024 season.
A team’s average payroll budget is $600,000 per season, yet there won’t be a salary cap as with the 2022 campaign.
Players typically receive $200 a week (before taxes), while veterans can earn $225, with annual loyalty bonuses possible. Players on the winning squad also receive a $50 bonus every week. Some teams additionally give their players housing while they’re competing.
National Arena League: first seasons
The National Arena League was the new name revealed by the league on November 18, 2016. Along with the name change, the league’s management was also reorganized, with all member teams managing it equally in place of Lions owner Skip Seda.
The Jersey Flight of Trenton, New Jersey, was the first 2018 expansion team announced by the league during the inaugural season. The NAL conditionally authorized ownership groups in Boston, Providence, Richmond, and Orlando during the summer league meetings, with an August 15, 2017, deadline for expansion applications.
2018 season
The Jacksonville Sharks, Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, Columbus Lions, and Jersey Flight all signed three-year NAL membership agreements on September 28, 2017, and pledged to compete in the league through 2020, the NAL announced on their Facebook page.
Commissioner Gregory resigned in October 2017, and Chris Siegfried, the director of operations, took over as commissioner.
April 7, 2018, was the start of the 2018 season. With the Cobras taking home the league title, the Pirates leading the regular season, and the Mammoths concluding the campaign with a five-game winning run, all three new teams performed admirably. The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, on the other hand, were winless in their season, and their owner declared he was attempting to sell the team. Meanwhile, the Mammoths also declared their desire to find local ownership.
2019 season
In December 2018, the league announced it will play its inaugural match of the 2019 season in the New York Streets, at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York. On January 17, 2019, a resurrected Orlando Predators franchise was added. It was owned and coached by players from the previous incarnation of the organization.
The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks and the Maine Mammoths announced that they had postponed their season after disagreeing with local ownership. Jeff Bouchy, the chairman of the NAL expansion and the Sharks’ principal owner, sold his ownership stake to the other owners on March 11, 2019, just before the 2019 season began. The Sharks took home the NAL title in 2019.
2020–present
After the season, the NAL revealed that it had teamed up with Champions Indoor Football (CIF) to establish a new league with the CIF and NAL as its two conferences for the 2020 campaign. The NAL saw the return of the Pirates. In 2018, it welcomed two teams from the American Arena League: the Jersey Flight and the West Virginia Roughriders, formerly known as the Richmond Roughriders.
These teams had previously received provisional approval to join the league. Like nearly every other sports league, the NAL halted activities during the COVID-19 epidemic to hold the season as soon as social distancing laws were removed and it was safe to do so. By June 12, 2020, the entire season had been canceled.
2021 season
After the 2020 season was canceled, the Massachusetts Pirates moved to the Indoor Football League (IFL), while the Tampa Bay Tornadoes, Albany Empire, Baltimore Lightning, Louisville Xtreme, Ontario Bandits, and 40 other teams were added to the NAL. Less than three weeks after it was announced, the Baltimore franchise membership was canceled.
The West Virginia Roughriders chose to go inactive for 2021 while the owner was attempting to sell the franchise, and the Louisville and Tampa Bay organizations quit the league three months after they were added. Louisville, on the other hand, joined the IFL. Because of the ongoing pandemic limitations, the 2021 season was postponed until at least May 2021. The Ontario Bandits hibernated one week before the 2021 season’s commencement.
2022 season
The Arena Football League used Ironman rules, in which most players must play both offense and defense, from 1987 to 2007. The league indicated that it will implement these rules for the 2022 season. The Roughriders announced in October 2021 that they would not return to the NAL due to a disagreement with the league contract.
However, they later talked about selling the franchise to the Ron Trideco-led ownership group to maintain their NAL membership. After playing their first 2021 season in the AAL, the league announced the San Antonio Gunslingers as an expansion team on November 11. Ultimately, the Roughriders, Ontario Bandits, and Jersey Flight were excluded from the 2022 NAL teams and were not included in the list.
2023 season
The league announced the Fayetteville Mustangs, who will play in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 2023, on July 14, 2022. The league said the West Texas Warbirds from Odessa, Texas, will enter the league for 2023 during halftime of the 2022 NAL championship. Rebound nets, made famous by the Arena Football League, were declared back by the league on August 24, 2022.
The Columbus Lions were kicked out of the league on December 22 after their membership was terminated. Due to different financial issues, the Albany Empire and the Fayetteville Mustangs were dropped from the league schedule in the middle of the season.
The Sharks won the NAL title in 2023.
2024 season
The league added the Omaha Beef and Sioux City Bandits from Champions Indoor Football in August 2023 for the 2024 campaign. The Jacksonville Sharks intended to join the Indoor Football League (IFL) on August 22, 2023. On August 31, the league welcomed the Loveland, Colorado-based Colorado Spartans as an expansion team.
The Warbirds, who had changed their identity to the West Texas Desert Hawks, were also revealed to be joining the Arena Football League when it reopened on August 31. On September 14, the Topeka Tropics also joined the NAL from the CIF. On September 21, the two-time American West Football Conference champions Idaho Horsemen joined the NAL. On September 26, the San Antonio Gunslingers were announced as also joining the IFL.
English Football League
Professional football teams from England and Wales compete in the English Football League (EFL). It is the oldest football league in the world, having been established as the Football League in 1888. From the league’s founding until 1992, when the top 20 clubs broke away to form the Premier League, it was England’s highest division of football.
The Football League has been sponsored and known by several names since the 1983–84 season. For the 2016–17 season, the league rebranded itself as the English Football League (EFL). The English Football League hosts two knockout cup competitions: the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy. Preston serves as the Football League’s operations center, while London serves as its commercial office.
Current Developmental Football Leagues
Here, we discussed the current developmental football leagues in detail.
Gridiron Developmental Football League
Based in Memphis, Tennessee, the Gridiron Developmental Football League (GDFL) is a low-level American football minor league that follows the franchise concept. Teams from all across the Contiguous United States are included in the GDFL.
Teams usually have different payroll budgets for different franchises. Salary payments also differ according to the skill set and player, with some receiving “gas money” and others receiving no compensation. For player development, the league has partnerships with the Federación Deportiva Nacional de Fútbol Americano de Chile [es] (FDNFA) and the Elite Football League of India (EFLI).
Rivals Professional Football League
Quentin Hines owns the Rivals Professional Football League (RPFL), a low-level American football minor league with 12 teams spread across Georgia, Florida, and Michigan.
Most players in the league have contracts that are entirely incentive-based. The league receives criticism because of its wage scale; some have publicly referred to it as “a scam.”
Historical United States Football Leagues
Between roughly 1890 and 1940, an informal confederation of American football teams was known as the Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit. In 1892, professionalism, which had previously been amateur, was added to the circuit. From about 1920 until the end of its existence, the circuit was forced to become semi-professional due to financial constraints.
It was one of the longest-running paid football loops to operate outside the National Football League’s regulations, having existed in one form or another for 48 years. By 1904, the “Ohio League” had attracted most professional football players from the area, which had lower playing standards. As a result, clubs from Ohio were typically the national winners.
The American Professional Football Association was established in 1920 by several teams from the “Ohio League” and the New York Pro Football League, even though clubs, the media, and supporters declared champions during this time. The APFA changed its name to the National Football League in 1922.
Historic football firsts
A number of the teams and players on the circuit created several firsts in professional football history. Among these successes are:
- On November 12, 1892, William “Pudge” Heffelfinger of the Allegheny Athletic Association became the first football player to be recognized as a professional.[24] The first documented professional football coach was Sport Donnelly of the Allegheny Athletic Association, who started coaching in 1893. A Pittsburgh Athletic Club player, believed to be Grant Dibert, signed the first-ever professional football contract.
- The contract covered every game the team played in the 1893 season. On September 3, 1895, John Brallier of the Latrobe Athletic Association became the first football player to play publicly as a professional.
- In 1896, the Allegheny Athletic Association fielded the first team that was fully openly professional.
- In 1897, Latrobe Athletic Association became the first football club to field a full roster of professionals for the whole season.
- The first professional football player elected to the US Congress was Adam Martin Wyant of the Greensburg Athletic Club in 1921.
Future leagues in the United States
After a decade of play, the Futures League has established itself as one of the nation’s most skilled and competitive leagues, offering summer collegiate baseball at its finest.
Every franchise offers reasonably priced entertainment in a laid-back, family-friendly setting.
Every summer, college players from all over the nation go to the New England region to compete in a league that nearly resembles a minor league season, with over 60 games played from late May to August. Major League Baseball (MLB) teams have selected over 150 Futures League participants.
With over two million spectators, the league has increased in popularity in the community and is currently the most popular summer collegiate league in New England.
Defunct American Football
These prominent sports leagues are no longer in existence but the following are discussed in detail.
European Football League
IFAF (International Federation of American Football – Europe), which took the position of the European Federation of American Football (EFAF) in 2014, sponsored the European Football League (EFL), a competition for the top European American football clubs. The NFL was founded in 1986.
Until 2013, the Eurobowl, an annual event since 1986, served as the EFL’s championship game. The BIG6 European Football League took the position of the EFL in 2014 as the premier club competition in Europe, and the EFL Bowl was reinstituted as the EFL’s championship game. The competition concluded with the 2018 NFL season.
American football in Australia
American football, called “gridiron” locally, is a spectator and participation sport in Australia. Gridiron Victoria, which runs separately from Gridiron Australia, and Gridiron Australia, a member of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF), represent the sport. Although the game has been played since World War II in six Australian states and territories, league competition dates back to 1983.
In Australia, there is no standard gridiron season. The many state and territorial organizations perform at various periods throughout the year. In Australia, there are now 73 junior and senior gridiron teams. The national team has participated in international competitions, including the IFAF World Cup.
Continental Football League
From 1965 through 1969, the Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football minor league played in North America. It was founded to overtake the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League as the dominant professional football leagues, having collapsed the previous league (AFL).
Though they never played a game, the Continental League, a proposed third Major League Baseball organization that significantly impacted MLB, is at least partially responsible for the name of the league.
Current women’s Football Conference leagues
Here is where “Women’s American Football in the United States” goes. See Women’s soccer in the United States for information on women’s association football.
The American football sport played by women in the United States is known as women’s American football. It is nationally and internationally contested in the IFAF Women’s World Championship.
Women’s Indoor/Arena leagues
A women’s indoor American football league that operates in the United States is called the Extreme Football League (X League). The league was first established in 2009 under the name Lingerie Football League (LFL), and in 2013, it changed its name to the Legends Football League. Mike Ditka, a former National Football League (NFL) and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, has owned the league since 2021. In May 2022, Samantha Gordon was also listed as an owner.
Outdoor leagues
Here, we briefly discussed all the outdoor leagues.
Women’s Football Alliance
Play started in 2009 for the professional, full-contact Women’s American Football League, known as the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA). It is the longest-running women’s football league in the United States and the biggest 11-on-11 football competition for women worldwide.
The league has used Three competitive levels since 2016: Pro, Division 2, and Division 3. Based in Exeter, California, Jeff King and Lisa Gibbons King are the league’s owners and operators. Lisa King also played wide receiver for the Cali War of the WFA.
United States Women’s Football League
A full-contact women’s American football minor league, the United States Women’s Football League (USWFL) began play in 2010 with exhibition games before holding its first regular season in 2011. From 2009 until 2015, the league was called the “Women’s Spring Football League.”
From 2011 to 2013, the USWFL had divisions with 11 and 8 players. The league split into two leagues in 2014; the eight-women division became the Women’s Eights Football League (W8FL), while the 11-woman division continued to play under the WSFL moniker. Only eleven women participated in the league in 2016, with the Cincinnati Sizzle winning the league championship.
Canadian Women’s Football League
Play started in the spring of 2011 for the full-contact women’s Canadian football league, the Western Women’s Canadian Football League (WWCFL). The seven-team league is Canada’s most prominent women’s football league and plays an annual spring and summer season.
The teams use American Football rules comparable to those of the Canadian Football League to play 12 women’s tackle football games. Teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are members of the league.
Professional Football Leagues Association
The American Association (later renamed the American Football League), the Dixie League, and the Pacific Coast Professional Football League were the three minor leagues of professional American football that signed a compact known as the Association of Professional Football Leagues in 1946.
This was the first time the NFL had a working relationship with multiple leagues whose local popularity matched the major league’s, even though it had an informal farm system in the pre-World War II AA. Less than two years passed before the arrangement was terminated due to the Dixie League dissolving after one of its members joined the American Football League just one week into the 1947 season.
Walter Camp and the creation of American football
American football was essentially established by Walter Camp (1859–1925), who distinguished it from British rugby by introducing the position and signal-calling function of the quarterback, reducing the team number from 15 to 11, and substituting the scrimmage for the considerably more raucous scrum. Camp was Yale’s first football head coach. He was a Yale alumnus and a medical student there for a brief period. For many years, he and one associate alone chose All-American college players.
America’s strange history with football demonstrates the tremendous resilience this sport possesses. Football was played without a system initially, with the only play being the kick of the ball. A set of regulations were developed in 1871–1872, but they were generally unsatisfactory and did not align with those of any other nation.
Unexpected Countries Participating in American Football
You might be surprised to hear that, despite its common association with the United States, many other countries also play the game. While American football may not be as popular as basketball or soccer, it still has a global following. It can be enjoyed by people from many walks of life, as evidenced by the fact that it is played in these surprising countries. The list of nations where American football is played outside the US has been assembled for your convenience.
JAPAN
One of the most unexpected places to watch American football is Japan, where the sport has grown a significant following over time. American football has been played in Japan since the 1930s. The first professional football team was in the Japan National Football League, founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1937. The Japanese Football League was established in 1948.
UAE
In the United Arab Emirates, American football is becoming more and more popular. The American Football Association of the UAE (AFAU) brought the sport to the nation in 2005. American football is governed and supported exclusively by the AFAU on the Arabian Peninsula. The American Football League was established for the first time in 2005, and its inaugural professional season began in 2006. Currently the only professional American football league in the Middle East, the league has grown to include over 40 teams throughout the United Arab Emirates.
Israel
Israel is another unexpected nation where American football has become popular, with games played since the 1980s. It was played at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on May 23, 1947, the first American football game ever played in Israel. Thomas G. H. Wicker, the American consul general in Jerusalem, and the American Friends of Hebrew University organized it. The Hebrew University students won the match, defeating the consul’s side 25–0.
Conclusion
The National Football League (NFL), American football leagues, consists of 32 teams from each of the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). America’s strange history with football demonstrates the tremendous resilience this sport possesses. Football was played without a system initially, with the only play being the kick of the ball. A set of regulations were developed in 1871–1872, but they were generally unsatisfactory and did not align with those of any other nation.