American Football League
Channel: all the knowledge of the universe PRINCIPIA
Date: 2021-12-04

American Football League, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2357 / CC BY SA 3.0

#American_Football_League
#Defunct_professional_sports_leagues_in_the_United_States
#Sports_leagues_established_in_1960
#1970_disestablishments_in_the_United_States
#1960_establishments_in_the_United_States
#Defunct_national_American_football_leagues
#Sports_leagues_disestablished_in_1970
The American Football League （AFL） was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League （NFL）, and became the American Football Conference.
The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence.
It was more successful than earlier rivals to the NFL with the same name, the 1926, 1936 and 1940 leagues, and the later All-America Football Conference （which existed between 1944 and 1950 but only played between 1946 and 1949）.
This fourth version of the AFL was the most successful, created by a number of owners who had been refused NFL expansion franchises or had minor shares of NFL franchises.
The AFL's original lineup consisted of an Eastern division of the New York Titans, Boston Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and the Houston Oilers, and a Western division of the Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, and Dallas Texans.
The league first gained attention by signing 75% of the NFL's first-round draft choices in 1960, including Houston's successful signing of college star and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon.
While the first years of the AFL saw uneven competition and low attendance, the league was buttressed by a generous television contract with the American Broadcasting Company （ABC） （followed
by a contract with the competing National Broadcasting Company [NBC] for games starting with the 1965 season） that broadcast the more offense-oriented football league nationwide.
Continuing to attract top talent from colleges and the NFL by...