The 1933 Turning Point
On July 8, 1933 the National Football League officially created a championship playoff game, marking the first time the league’s top teams would meet after the regular season. The proposal, driven by Chicago Bears owner George Halas and Boston Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, divided the league into Eastern and Western divisions, with the division winners facing off for the title.
Before that season the champion was simply the team with the best record, a system that dated back to the league’s founding in 1920. The 1932 campaign produced a rare tie at the top of the standings, as the Portsmouth Spartans and the Chicago Bears both finished with an .857 winning percentage, forcing a playoff contest that the Bears won 9‑0.
From Tiebreaker to Modern Tournament
The playoff format has continued to evolve. Today, 14 teams — seven from each conference — qualify for the postseason, a far cry from the two‑team championship game of the 1930s. The league’s early divisions were five‑team groups arranged geographically, a structure that laid the groundwork for the conferences still used today.