American Football League

The American Football League (AFL) competed with the National Football League (NFL). It existed from 1960 to 1969, when it merged with the NFL. The Super Bowl began as a championship game between the top teams in the AFL and NFL for its first three years (1967-1969). After the merger, the AFL's teams formed the majority of the American Football Conference within the NFL (due to the differing number of teams, three existing NFL franchises were moved to the AFC: the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns, and the Baltimore Colts).