National Football Conference facts for kids
National Football Conference logo
(2010–present) |
|
| Formerly | National Football League (NFL), pre–merger |
|---|---|
| League | National Football League |
| Sport | American football |
| Founded | 1970 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Philadelphia Eagles (5th title) |
| Most titles | Dallas Cowboys San Francisco 49ers (8 titles) |
The National Football Conference (NFC) is a group of teams in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL is the top professional American football league in the United States. The NFC and its partner, the American Football Conference (AFC), each have 16 teams. These teams are organized into four smaller groups called divisions.
Both the NFC and AFC were created in 1970. This happened when the NFL joined with another league, the American Football League (AFL). All ten teams from the old AFL and three NFL teams formed the AFC. The other thirteen NFL teams became the NFC. Over time, more teams joined, and divisions changed. Now, each conference has 16 teams.
The Philadelphia Eagles are the current champions of the NFC. They won their fifth conference title in the 2024 NFL season by beating the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.
Contents
Teams in the NFC
Since 2002, the NFC has 16 teams. These teams are split into four divisions. Each division has four teams. The divisions are the NFC East, NFC North, NFC South, and NFC West.
| Division | Team | City | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|
| East | Dallas Cowboys | Arlington, Texas | AT&T Stadium |
| New York Giants | East Rutherford, New Jersey | MetLife Stadium | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Lincoln Financial Field | |
| Washington Commanders | Landover, Maryland | Northwest Stadium | |
| North | Chicago Bears | Chicago, Illinois | Soldier Field |
| Detroit Lions | Detroit, Michigan | Ford Field | |
| Green Bay Packers | Green Bay, Wisconsin | Lambeau Field | |
| Minnesota Vikings | Minneapolis, Minnesota | U.S. Bank Stadium | |
| South | Atlanta Falcons | Atlanta, Georgia | Mercedes-Benz Stadium |
| Carolina Panthers | Charlotte, North Carolina | Bank of America Stadium | |
| New Orleans Saints | New Orleans, Louisiana | Caesars Superdome | |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Tampa, Florida | Raymond James Stadium | |
| West | Arizona Cardinals | Glendale, Arizona | State Farm Stadium |
| Los Angeles Rams | Inglewood, California | SoFi Stadium | |
| San Francisco 49ers | Santa Clara, California | Levi's Stadium | |
| Seattle Seahawks | Seattle, Washington | Lumen Field |
How the Season Works
Each NFC team plays 17 games during the regular season. The NFL uses a special plan to decide who plays whom.
- Each NFC team plays the other teams in its own division twice. This means one game at home and one game away.
- They also play 11 other games. Three of these games are based on how well the team did last season.
- The other eight games are against teams from two different NFL divisions. These divisions change each year. For example, in the 2023 season, teams in the NFC East played against every team in the NFC West and AFC East.
At the end of each season, some teams make it to the NFL playoffs. The four teams that win their divisions qualify. Also, three other teams with the best records that didn't win their division get in. These are called "wild cards."
The NFC playoffs end with the NFC Championship Game. The winning team gets the George S. Halas Trophy. Then, the NFC champion plays against the AFC champion in the Super Bowl.
History of the NFC
The AFC and NFC were both created in 1970. This happened when the NFL and the American Football League (AFL) merged. Before the merger, the AFL had 10 teams and the NFL had 16. To make the new league balanced, all 10 AFL teams joined the NFL's Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Baltimore Colts to form the AFC. The remaining 13 NFL teams formed the NFC.
The teams in the AFC quickly decided how their divisions would be set up. But the NFC team owners couldn't agree. They came up with five different plans. On January 16, 1970, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle's secretary, Thelma Elkjer, picked one plan out of a glass bowl. This plan became the way the NFC divisions were first set up.
Since 1970, three new teams have joined the NFC. These are the Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Carolina Panthers. The Seahawks and Buccaneers first joined the league in 1976. They were in different conferences for one season before switching. The Seahawks returned to the NFC in 2002. The Carolina Panthers joined the NFC in 1995.
Most NFC teams have played in the Super Bowl. The only NFC team that has never made it to the Super Bowl is the Detroit Lions.
NFC Logo
The first NFC logo was used from 1970 to 2009. It showed a blue 'N' with three stars. The three stars stood for the three divisions the NFC had from 1970 to 2001 (Eastern, Central, and Western).
In 2010, the NFC got a new logo. It looks a lot like the old one, but it has a fourth star. This fourth star represents the four divisions the NFC has had since 2002. The AFC logo was also updated at the same time in a similar way.
Television Coverage
From 1970 to 1993, CBS showed the NFC's Sunday afternoon and playoff games. From 1994 to 2013, Fox was the main TV channel for NFC games. Since 2014, some NFC games can also be shown on CBS. Also, since 1990, some NFC playoff games have been shown on ABC or ESPN.
See also
In Spanish: Conferencia Nacional (NFL) para niños
