American Football | Live Scores

American Football is the dominant sport in the United States — the country's most watched, most bet upon, and most commercially valuable game. The National Football League (NFL) is the richest sports league in the world by revenue, and the Super Bowl is consistently the most-watched single sporting event in the United States every year, drawing over 100 million viewers. While American football's global footprint remains primarily North American, the NFL's International Series — games played in London, Mexico City, and Frankfurt — is steadily building worldwide audiences.

The origins of American football lie in English rugby and soccer, brought to American universities in the 1860s. The first intercollegiate football game was played on November 6, 1869, between Rutgers and Princeton — though the game resembled soccer more than modern football. Walter Camp, a Yale coach and player in the 1870s-1890s, is considered the "Father of American Football." Camp established the line of scrimmage, down and distance system, and 11-player teams — the fundamental structure that defines the modern game.

The American Professional Football Association was founded on August 20, 1920, in Canton, Ohio, with Jim Thorpe — an Olympic decathlon champion and one of the greatest athletes of his era — as the association's first president. The APFA renamed itself the National Football League in 1922. Early NFL franchises were small-town teams; by the 1950s and 1960s, television transformed the NFL into a national phenomenon. The merger with the AFL in 1970 created the two-conference structure still in place today.

The Super Bowl — the NFL Championship Game between the winners of the NFC and AFC conferences — was first played on January 15, 1967 (Super Bowl I), with the Green Bay Packers defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10. The Super Bowl has since become the single largest annual advertising event in the United States, with 30-second commercials selling for over $7 million in 2024. The halftime show has featured artists from Michael Jackson and Prince to Beyoncé and Taylor Swift's cultural moment at the 2024 game.

American football's greatest dynasties include the Green Bay Packers of the 1960s under Vince Lombardi, the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s, the San Francisco 49ers of the 1980s under Bill Walsh and Joe Montana, the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s, and the New England Patriots of the 2000s-2010s under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Brady — with seven Super Bowl rings across 23 seasons — is considered by many to be the greatest player in NFL history and the most successful athlete in American team sports.

As of June 8, 2026, the NFL is 106 years old as a league and American football as a collegiate sport is 157 years old. The league has expanded internationally: the London games draw 90,000 fans to Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium annually. The NFL's global streaming deal has made American football available in 80+ countries. ZakGT tracks NFL standings, results, and breaking news for fans worldwide.