This Day in Sports Business History September 17th

On September 17, 1920, a pivotal moment in sports business history took place in Canton, Ohio, when team owners gathered at Ralph Hay’s automobile showroom to officially form the American Professional Football Association (APFA). This meeting marked the birth of what would become the National Football League (NFL), a league that would grow into the most lucrative sports organization in North America. At its founding, the APFA consisted of 14 teams, and the early goals were to bring structure, standardized rules, and financial stability to the loosely organized world of professional football. Two years later, in 1922, the league rebranded itself as the NFL, laying the groundwork for decades of growth through national television contracts, expansion franchises, and eventually billion-dollar sponsorship and media deals. What began as a small gathering of owners seeking order and credibility has evolved into a global sports powerhouse, with the NFL generating over $20 billion annually and serving as a model for modern sports business.