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| | The '''National Football League (NFL)''' is an [[American]] professional sports league and the biggest promoter of [[gambling]] in the world. Its billionaire owners loot the public and deliberately encroach on religious holidays such as [[Christmas]] and [[Thanksgiving]].<ref>https://frontofficesports.com/nfl-most-watched-regular-season-game/</ref> | | The '''National Football League (NFL)''' is an [[American]] professional sports league and the biggest promoter of [[gambling]] in the world. Its billionaire owners loot the public and deliberately encroach on religious holidays such as [[Christmas]] and [[Thanksgiving]].<ref>https://frontofficesports.com/nfl-most-watched-regular-season-game/</ref> |
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| − | This league began to supplant baseball as America's most popular spectator sport in 1958, when the then-NFL Championship Game between the then-Baltimore Colts and the [[New York Giants]] was broadcast nationwide (though ironically not in New York City) and ended in a sudden-death overtime win by the Colts. Today NFL franchises are a leading example of [[crony capitalism]],<ref>https://frontofficesports.com/anheuser-busch-ending-exclusive-super-bowl-deal-with-nfl/</ref> such that team owners rake in billions of dollars by milking taxpayers and promoting vices like [[beer]] and [[gambling]]. The NFL has $110 billion in media deals annually and yet supports shockingly little [[charity]]. Far more people are harmed by the NFL than genuinely helped by it.
| + | NFL franchises are an example of [[crony capitalism]],<ref>https://frontofficesports.com/anheuser-busch-ending-exclusive-super-bowl-deal-with-nfl/</ref> such that team owners rake in billions of dollars by milking taxpayers and promoting vices like [[beer]] and [[gambling]]. The NFL has $110 billion in media deals annually and yet supports shockingly little [[charity]]. Far more people are harmed by the NFL than genuinely helped by it. |
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| | NFL teams routinely fleece taxpayers to build new stadiums and then keep nearly all the revenue earned (even from non-football events such as major concerts), the league itself promotes [[gambling]] (via both [[fantasy football]] and sports betting), and players routinely suffer serious injuries (concussions being the most common) which have life-altering effects and, in some cases, have led to deaths (not only the players but innocent parties, the case of murders allegedly committed by Aaron Hernandez among the most prominent). | | NFL teams routinely fleece taxpayers to build new stadiums and then keep nearly all the revenue earned (even from non-football events such as major concerts), the league itself promotes [[gambling]] (via both [[fantasy football]] and sports betting), and players routinely suffer serious injuries (concussions being the most common) which have life-altering effects and, in some cases, have led to deaths (not only the players but innocent parties, the case of murders allegedly committed by Aaron Hernandez among the most prominent). |
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| | == History == | | == History == |
| − | The NFL was originally formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association and adopted its current name in 1922.<ref>Today the NFL is one of the four major sports leagues in the United States (the others being [[MLB]], [[NBA]], and [[NHL]], though the [[NFL]] has never had a franchise in Canada). </ref> Only two teams which were charter members of the league remain in operation today: the Chicago Cardinals (now the [[Arizona Cardinals]]) and the Decatur Staleys (now the [[Chicago Bears]]).<ref>Other teams currently in the league operated prior to 1920, either as independent clubs or in rival leagues. As an example, the [[Green Bay Packers]], considered one of the NFL's historic franchises, was not a charter member; it formed in 1919 and played its first two seasons as an independent club before joining the league in 1921.</ref> Then Staleys coach (and owner) George Halas is credited with being the father of the league and is compared to [[George Washington]] by many enthusiasts of the game.
| + | This league began to supplant baseball as America's most popular spectator sport in 1958, when the then-NFL Championship Game between the then-Baltimore Colts and the [[New York Giants]] was broadcast nationwide (though ironically not in New York City) and ended in a sudden-death overtime win by the Colts. Originally the NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association and adopted its current name in 1922.<ref>Today the NFL is one of the four major sports leagues in the United States (the others being [[MLB]], [[NBA]], and [[NHL]], though the [[NFL]] has never had a franchise in Canada). </ref> Only two teams which were charter members of the league remain in operation today: the Chicago Cardinals (now the [[Arizona Cardinals]]) and the Decatur Staleys (now the [[Chicago Bears]]).<ref>Other teams currently in the league operated prior to 1920, either as independent clubs or in rival leagues. As an example, the [[Green Bay Packers]], considered one of the NFL's historic franchises, was not a charter member; it formed in 1919 and played its first two seasons as an independent club before joining the league in 1921.</ref> Then Staleys coach (and owner) George Halas is credited with being the father of the league and is compared to [[George Washington]] by many enthusiasts of the game. |
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| | During its existence it has merged with all or parts of three rival football leagues (unlike the NBA and NHL, the individual and team records of these franchises are recognized by the NFL): | | During its existence it has merged with all or parts of three rival football leagues (unlike the NBA and NHL, the individual and team records of these franchises are recognized by the NFL): |