NFL divisions (1970 AFC and NFC)

NFL divisions (1970 AFC and NFC)
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Overview
Season	1970
Purpose	Divisional reorganization after the AFL–NFL merger
Conferences	AFC, NFC

The 1970 season marked a major reorganization of American football under the National Football League (NFL) following the AFL–NFL merger. The league’s two-conference alignment—American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC)—was paired with a divisional structure that created new geographic and competitive groupings for each conference. This divisional layout is commonly referenced as the NFL’s “1970 AFC and NFC” format.

Background: merger-driven realignment

Before the merger, the top-level league structure reflected two separate major organizations: the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League. The completed 1970 NFL merger unified the leagues into a single NFL while preserving the idea of two conferences for scheduling and championship purposes. In addition, the NFL created a consistent divisional model so that teams would compete within stable groupings rather than solely within legacy league affiliations.

As a result, the NFL’s 1970 setup used the two conferences—AFC and NFC—each subdivided into divisions. This approach later became foundational for the league’s modern conference-and-division format, including how teams qualify for postseason play through conference standings.

AFC divisions in 1970

The AFC in 1970 contained three divisions: East, Central, and West. The alignment aimed to balance travel and regional identity while integrating former AFL teams with former NFL franchises that were placed into the AFC.

The AFC East featured teams clustered along the Atlantic region, while the AFC Central grouped teams in the Midwest. The AFC West encompassed teams in the western part of the conference, reflecting the geographic character of its member franchises. Collectively, these divisions determined intra-conference competition, divisional records, and the pathway to AFC Championship Game qualification under the league’s postseason rules.

NFC divisions in 1970

The NFC in 1970 also used three divisions: East, Central, and West. Like the AFC, the NFC divisional arrangement helped structure the regular season into predictable regional matchups while integrating franchises across the former AFL and NFL identities.

Within the NFC, the NFC East provided competition among teams in the eastern portion of the conference’s footprint. The NFC Central served the Midwest, and the NFC West grouped teams aligned with the western region. Because the conference champion advanced to the Super Bowl, the divisional framework had direct implications for both standings and postseason outcomes, including the route to the NFC Championship Game.

Competitive and organizational implications

The 1970 divisional structure shaped scheduling patterns and rivalry development by emphasizing repeated matchups inside each division. Over time, divisional placement also influenced franchise strategy, draft priorities, and roster construction because teams were rewarded for finishing among the top divisional contenders. The reorganization is frequently discussed alongside the broader transition to a unified NFL, including the establishment of a single league playoff hierarchy built around conference champions and divisional competition.

This structure also connected to the early-era evolution of the league’s statistical and recordkeeping conventions, since divisional standings became an additional reference point for performance. For example, the conference-and-division framework supported comparisons across seasons as franchises moved through the same regional groups year after year, a key feature of the modern NFL landscape associated with the NFL playoffs.

Legacy and later changes

Although the 1970 AFC/NFC divisional model is central to understanding early post-merger organization, the NFL has modified its divisional alignments multiple times since then. Changes have included expansions, franchise relocations, and realignments designed to maintain competitive balance and geographic coherence. Still, the three-division-per-conference structure established in 1970 provided a clear blueprint for how the NFL would scale the unified league in subsequent decades.

In historical terms, the 1970 divisions are often treated as the first complete divisional expression of the merged league, linking the merger era to the sustained conference framework that continues today.