

Division winners earned a spot along with three wild cards per conference with the lowest seeded division winners playing the wild card teams in the first round.A new playoff format was unveiled as a result of the realignment that occurred prior to the 1970 merger of the National Football League and American Football League. This year, the league is expanding the playoffs to include 14 teams. Each conference was reorganized into four divisions of four teams. The current system was established in 2002 when the league expanded to 32 teams. The NFL finally ditched the rule against division opponents meeting in the early rounds as well.

The division winner with the worst record played in the Wild Card round.

The 10-team playoff system remained in place until 1990 when a third wild card team in each conference was added. Thus, the Wild Card round was created and the basis of the current format established (Wild Card, Division, Conference Championship, and Super Bowl). Another wild card team was added to each conference bringing the total number of playoff teams to ten. The format changed once again in 1978 when the schedule increased from 14 to 16 games. But teams from the same division could not meet before the conference championships which meant there were times the No. It wasn’t until 1975 that the league instituted a seeding system (based on record). It was at that time the league started having the Divisional round followed by the Conference Championship games, and the Super Bowl.įrom 1970-74 home field advantage rotated among the division winners. At that point, the playoffs expanded to eight teams, the six division winners (three per conference) and a wild card team (team with the best record that didn’t win a division) from each conference. The NFL format as we now know it did not begin to take shape until the merger in 1970. Teams were not divided into four divisions until 1967 which gave birth to the Divisional round.
#Wild card games nfl professional
The Super Bowl was added to the mix in 1966 a game between the champions of the two professional football leagues, the NFL and the AFL. The following year a championship game between the winner of the two divisions was added-and the NFL Playoffs were born. But in 1932, there was a tie atop the rankings so an additional game was played. Prior to 1933, the league champion was the team with the best record at the end of the season. From 1933 to 1966, the playoffs consisted of only the NFL Championship Game played between the two division winners. There hasn’t always been a Wild Card round or a Divisional one followed by the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl. The format of the NFL Playoffs has undergone many changes over the years. Tickets for the AFC Championship and NFC Championship games, for example, will likely cost more than those for the AFC Wild Card and NFC Wild Card rounds. That said, prices can vary based on a number of factors, including the teams playing, location of the game, the playoff round, and even the weather. On average, an NFL playoff game ticket costs about $270. The secondary ticket market is often the best place to turn in this case as it provides fans with an opportunity to purchase seats. This has traditionally made things a bit more challenging for fans who want to witness the excitement of playoff football, but do not hold season tickets.

Like the regular season, the majority of NFL Playoff tickets are sold to the home team's season ticket holders (with the Super Bowl being an exception). The playoff picture typically takes shape late in the NFL regular season, with the bracket hopefully to be set after the final week of the regular season wraps up on January 3rd. Should they be happy that only the best teams of the season will be playing for the next month? Or should they be sad because there are only a handful of NFL games left in the season? Either way, some of the best football of the year is always played in January and February. January can be a confusing time for NFL fans.
