The National Football League (NFL) is one of the world's biggest sporting leagues with 32 teams competing for the Vince Lombardi trophy.
But with the teams being spread across such a vast country in the form of the United States of America, how can the NFL create an entertaining and fair sporting competition?
DAZN finds out why the NFL was split into two conferences, the AFC and NFC, with four divisions within each conference below.
What are the AFC and NFC?
The American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC) were both created in 1970 following the merger of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League.
The NFL was formed in 1920, but a group of expansion team owners decided in 1959 to form the AFL which acted as a direct competitor to the NFL for a decade until the two leagues came together.
How many NFL teams are in each conference?
There are 16 teams in both the AFC and NFC.
How many divisions are in each conference?
There are four divisions in each conference, North, South, East and West, with each division containing four teams.
AFC Divisions
| AFC North | AFC South | AFC East | AFC West |
| Baltimore Ravens | Houston Texans | Buffalo Bills | Denver Broncos |
| Cincinnati Bengals | Indianapolis Colts | Miami Dolphins | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Cleveland Browns | Jacksonville Jaguars | New England Patriots | Las Vegas Raiders |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | Tennessee Titans | New York Jets | Los Angeles Chargers |
NFC Divisions
| NFC North | NFC South | NFC East | NFC West |
| Chicago Bears | Atlanta Falcons | Dallas Cowboys | Arizona Cardinals |
| Detroit Lions | Carolina Panthers | New York Giants | Los Angeles Rams |
| Green Bay Packers | New Orleans Saints | Philadelphia Eagles | San Francisco 49ers |
| Minnesota Vikings | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Washington Commanders | Seattle Seahawks |
How does an NFL regular season work?
Every regular season, a team will face every other team in their division twice, while also playing teams from both conferences. This accounts for a quarter of a regular season schedule.
Depending on the standings come the end of the regular season, the seven best teams from each conference will then advance to the playoffs.