On February 7, 2010, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV. With an average US audience of 106.5 million viewers, the National Football League"s premier game became the most-watched television program in history, breaking the 27-year-long record previously held by the final episode of M*A*S*H. The record-setting TV audience for Super Bowl XLIV illustrates the point that the National Football League has become the most popular sports league in America. The growing popularity has led to increased revenue, and the NFL now ranks as the most lucrative sports league in the world. Before the NFL became the cash cow that it is today, it grew from humble beginnings. The NFL can trace its roots back to 1917, when legendary Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe led his Canton Bulldogs to a victory over the Rochester Jeffersons. Following the game, Jeffersons owner Leo Lyons suggested to Thorpe that a league be formed. The league that Lyons and Thorpe envisioned took a few years to formalize. World War I resulted in many players being sent overseas and many football teams suspended operations. In August of 1920, representatives of several football teams met at a car dealership in Canton, Ohio. They ended up forming the American Professional Football Conference (renamed one month later as the American Professional Football Association). It was mostly an informal agreement to play a common schedule and name a champion at the end of each season. It wasn"t until 1922 that the league would be renamed as the National Football League. Throughout the 1920s, membership was unstable and the league was not a major national sport. The Chicago Cardinals, now the Arizona Cardinals, and the Decatur Staleys, now the Chicago Bears, are the only two charter teams still in existence. A major obstacle in the NFL"s way was the popularity of college football. The NFL lagged behind in popularity to the college game until the end of World War II. It started to catch up when the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles, thus making the NFL the only league to be on the West Coast. The league earned its spot as a major league in the 1950s when games began being broadcasted on national television. One of the most notable events in the NFL"s history occurred in 1970 with the merger of the NFL with the rival American Football League. The AFL was founded in 1959 and they were very successful. As a result, the NFL had to compete with the AFL for players which drove up the price of player salaries. The merger was announced in June of 1966 and in 1970 the two leagues were fully merged. The NFL owes much of its success to the late Pete Rozelle. He became the replacement commissioner in 1960 following the death of Bert Bell and served in that role until 1989. He was able to negotiate with TV networks to get contracts to broadcast every NFL game played each season. Additionally, he played an important role in getting the teams to share revenues. The Green Bay Packers lead all teams with 12 NFL titles. They won nine NFL Championships between 1929 and 1965 and they won three Super Bowls after the merger. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most titles in the Super Bowl era, winning six of them.
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