American football has evolved since its inception in the late 19th century from a game resembling rugby that was played by students at Ivy League universities into the hugely popular and lucrative professional sport it is today controlled by the National Football League. The earliest recorded soccer game was in 1869 (VIQtory sports, p.3), which more closely resembled a hybrid of rugby and soccer with players able to handle and carry the ball but no limitations on physical contact or rules regarding forward passing. Over the following decades, rules were gradually implemented to establish the American game of football that is currently in charge of the games, which introduced rules restricting contact while legalizing the forward pass, and it also contributed to standardizing field dimensions and scoring. These rule changes helped transform football from its rugby roots into a distinct sport and set the stage for its rise in popularity across the United States, resulting in the establishment of professional leagues and teams that are now currently popular and professional, unlike when it started.
One of the most influential figures in establishing the foundation of modern American football was Walter Camp, who was involved as a player and later a rules committee member at Yale University in the late 1800s and early 1900s (Early History of American Football, p.1). Camp introduced many impactful rules, including establishing set positions of offense and defense with the line of scrimmage once implementing the system of downs where the offense has a set number of plays to advance the ball a certain distance and standardizing the football field to its current dimensions and hash marks (Early History of American Football, p.1). Additionally, Camp was instrumental in legalizing the forward pass in 1906, a pivotal moment that opened up the game tremendously and steered it further away from rugby by allowing lateral and backward passing behind the line of scrimmage. These rule changes helped codify American football into a more structured sport compared to its freewheeling origins that had standards differentiating it from sports like rugby, making it a unique and exciting sport.
As American football continued evolving through standardized rules in the early 20th century, the first professional leagues began to form. In 1922, the NFL comprised 14 franchises located mostly in small towns and cities across the Midwest and Northeast regions (Gawrysiak et al., p.7). During this initial period of professional football, teams struggled with financial instability and high turnover as franchises would often fold within a few seasons. However, one team that provided an early model of stability was the Green Bay Packers, who were owned by a small group of businessmen from the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, starting in 1923 and remain the only publicly owned franchise in professional sports to this day. The Packers demonstrated the viability of community ownership of a professional football team as a business model.
A rival professional league, the American Football League, was formed in the 1920s but also struggled financially and collapsed. In the 1930s, two stable rival professional leagues emerged – the NFL and the American Football League, which began play in 1936 (Gawrysiak et al., p.3). A bidding war ensued between the two leagues for the top college football talent coming out of the college ranks each year. Finally, in 1966, the two leagues agreed to a merger, with the NFL absorbing the four remaining AFL franchises. As part of the merger agreement, a championship game was established between the conference winners known as the Super Bowl, which has grown to become one of the most-watched sporting events worldwide. The AFL-NFL merger created structural stability within professional football and established the NFL as the dominant professional league it remains today.
As the popularity of the NFL grew throughout the latter half of the 20th century, the professionalization and commercialization of the sport accelerated. Franchise values increased tremendously, supported by rising television broadcast rights fees and stadium naming rights deals. In 1959, NFL sports contracts were high at around $4.65 million annually (Gawrysiak et al., p.2). By the early 1990s, television deals ballooned to over $1 billion per year, demonstrating the mass appeal and revenue-generating potential of the NFL product (Gawrysiak et al., p.5). Franchise values skyrocketed, with the average team valued around $2.2 billion currently. Additionally, franchise relocation became more common as team owners sought larger television markets and newer publicly financed stadiums to maximize revenue potential. The NFL also expanded its international footprint, playing regular season games in London and Mexico City.
As the professional football business grew exponentially, the need for specialized expertise in sports business and facility management also increased tremendously. Early NFL team owners often handled all business operations themselves, but as franchises became more valuable corporate entities, the role of professional general managers and team presidents emerged to oversee day-to-day business functions. Pioneering team executives during that period helped establish the front office infrastructure of modern NFL franchises. Additionally, as stadiums became larger and more advanced entertainment venues, the field of facility management professionalized.
As sports business became a distinct academic field starting in the late 20th century, university programs emerged to train the next generation of sports executives. Pioneer programs included the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which established the Isenberg School of Management Sport Management Program in 1978. Graduates of these early sports management degree programs went on to fill the growing ranks of professional sports league office staff as well as team front office positions. Leagues themselves also began formalized development programs like the NFL’s Career Development Program, established in 2001, to identify and train future sports executives within their ranks. Today, all major professional sports leagues and franchises rely on a cadre of sports business and facility management professionals to oversee the complex business and operational aspects of their multi-billion dollar enterprises.
Therefore, the evolution of American football from its initial student game origins to the hugely popular professional sport it is today, overseen by the NFL, can be traced through incremental rule changes that transformed the on-field product as well as rising popularity that drove increasing commercialization and professionalization of the sport on the business side. Figures like Walter Camp were instrumental in establishing the foundation of modern football through standardized rules, while pioneers in sports business like Halas, Rooney, and Schramm helped develop the front office and stadium infrastructure of NFL franchises. As the NFL has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry, specialized fields of sports business and facility management have emerged to provide the expertise required to manage the complex operations of professional football organizations. The development of dedicated university academic programs and league training initiatives further professionalized these sports management roles. Together, these on-field and off-field developments have defined American football’s progression into the best sports spectacles in the world today.
Works Cited
“Early History of American Football.” American Football Database. https://americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/Early_history_of_American_footb All
Gawrysiak, Joey, et al. “Using Esports Efficiently to Enhance and Extend Brand Perceptions – a Literature Review.” Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research, vol. 0, no. 0, Feb. 2020, https://doi.org/10.2478/pcssr-2020-0008.
VIQtory sports. “History of American Football: From Pigskin to Prime Time.” VIQtory Sports, www.viqtorysports.com/history-of-football/
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