The NFL traces back to 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, renamed the National Football League in 1922, and merging with the rival AFL in 1970 to form the modern league structure. Here's how the 2026 season is put together. If you're new to streaming sports over IPTV, our full IPTV explainer is a good starting point.
Regular Season Format
32 teams, split into the American and National Football Conferences (AFC and NFC), each with four divisions of four teams. Every team plays a 17-game regular season, with the schedule built from divisional games, conference matchups, and a rotating set of games against the opposite conference — running from early September through early January.
How Teams Reach the Playoffs
Each conference sends seven teams to the playoffs: the four division winners, seeded 1 through 4 based on record, plus three wild-card teams with the next-best records regardless of division. The top seed in each conference earns a first-round bye.
The Playoff Bracket
From the wild-card round, the bracket narrows through the divisional round and conference championship games, with the AFC and NFC champions meeting in the Super Bowl — the league's championship game, held at a pre-selected neutral site announced years in advance.
Preseason and Key Dates
Training camp and preseason games run through August, with the regular season traditionally kicking off in early September and running to early January, followed by roughly a month of playoffs into February. Exact weekly matchups and dates are set by the league's official schedule release each spring — check that directly for confirmed dates rather than a general estimate.
Seventeen weeks of games across every team adds up fast — see our guide to the EPG for how to track it all from one program guide.
FAQ
How many teams make the playoffs? Fourteen total — seven from each conference, including four division winners and three wild-card teams per conference.
How long is the regular season? Each team plays 17 games across an 18-week schedule, with one bye week built in for every team.
When is the Super Bowl usually played? Typically in early-to-mid February, roughly a month after the regular season concludes.
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