---
slug: nfc
title: NFC
depth_tier: league
side: UNIVERSAL
category: Conferences
source_id: "CON-0002"
created: 2026-05-12
updated: 2026-05-12
canonical: https://learningfootball.xyz/leagues/nfc
aliases:
  - National Football Conference
  - the NFC
---
# NFC

## Short Definition

One of the NFL's two conferences—sixteen franchises in four divisions competing for the NFC Championship and a Super Bowl berth each season.

## Definition

The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences comprising the NFL, consisting of 16 franchises organized into four divisions: NFC East, NFC North, NFC South, and NFC West. The NFC was formed in 1970 when the AFL-NFL merger took effect, retaining 13 of the pre-merger NFL's franchises while three moved to the new AFC to balance the conference structure.

The NFC Championship Game determines which franchise represents the conference at the Super Bowl. The NFC has historically been associated with the NFL's older franchises and some of its most iconic dynasties—the San Francisco 49ers' five Super Bowls in the 1980s and 1990s, the Dallas Cowboys' dominance in the same era, and the Green Bay Packers' sustained excellence across multiple decades.

The NFC East has historically been the conference's most commercially significant division, housing the Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, and (Washington) Commanders—four franchises whose collective market reach, championship histories, and media presence give the division outsized national attention regardless of any given season's standings.

The NFC's identity relative to the AFC has shifted across eras. In the 1980s and 1990s the NFC dominated Super Bowl competition, winning nine consecutive championships from 1985 to 1997. The AFC's subsequent dominance—driven first by the Patriots dynasty and then the Chiefs era—reversed that balance, making the NFC Championship the route to a Super Bowl that many analysts view as the AFC's likely opponent.

## Example

"Nine straight Super Bowl wins for the NFC from 1985 to 1997—the 49ers, Giants, Redskins, Cowboys taking turns. The AFC has dominated since. Conference balance shifts across decades."

## Common Confusion

The NFC was not simply the old NFL—it kept 13 of the NFL's pre-merger franchises while three NFL teams (Colts, Browns, Steelers) moved to the AFC. The NFC is home to some of the NFL's oldest franchises, including the Bears (1920), Cardinals (1898), and Giants (1925), but it is an administrative structure created in 1970, not a continuation of the pre-merger NFL.

## Related

- afc
- nfl
- super-bowl-sunday
- nfc-east
- nfc-north
- nfc-south
- nfc-west

---
Source: https://learningfootball.xyz/leagues/nfc