The game that would come to be known as the Super Bowl was first played during this transitional period, as a championship between the two leagues. Originally referred to as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game in its first two iterations, the game was first referred to as the Super Bowl in the 1969 matchup now known as Super Bowl III, played between the New York Jets and Baltimore Colts (now the Indianapolis Colts). The name “Super Bowl” was initially introduced by Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas line data City Chiefs, as a joking name for the game in the 1960s, supposedly in reference to his child’s “Super Ball” toy.[14] The name caught on with audiences and the media, and was officially adopted as a trademark by the time of the third game.
Most scholars and commentators agree that the larger and more financially powerful NFL came to dominate the teams of the AFL in their merger, with many NFL policies—such as the ban on public ownership—overruling those of the AFL when the two leagues joined. However, in other ways, the distinct culture of the AFL had long-reaching positive impacts on the sport.
At the time of the merger, the AFL was considerably more racially integrated than the NFL. Its teams fielded more Black players than the NFL, and its players were more organized and wielded more power within their organizations. This was demonstrated in 1965, when Black players voted to boycott the AFL All-Star Game in racially segregated New Orleans en masse, forcing its cancellation and relocation to the comparatively more progressive environment of Houston. This was in sharp contrast to the NFL, which had a long history of segregation thanks to “gentleman’s agreements”[15] between owners that effectively excluded Black players from the league. The merger of the AFL and NFL brought an influx of politically aware young players into the league, and strengthened the power of the NFL Player’s Association relative to the predominantly white ownership of the league.
Further Reading
If you’re interested in learning more about the intersections between sports, law, and culture, HeinOnline has two databases dedicated to these very topics. Our Hackney Publications collection features in-depth legal analysis of every aspect of the sports law industry from Hackney Publications, the nation’s leading publisher of sports law periodicals. Additionally, Business and Legal Aspects of Sports and Entertainment (BLASE), our largest collection of sports law material, features hundreds of topic-coded cases, government documents, court decisions, and thousands of articles from more than fifty legal periodicals dedicated to sports law, including Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal and Marquette Sports Law Review.
HeinOnline Sources
HeinOnline Sources
↑1 A. Wood (Editor) Renton; A. W. (Editor) Donald. Encyclopaedia of the Laws of England Being a New Abridgment by the Most Eminent Legal Authorities. This text can be found in HeinOnline’s Legal Classics collection.
↑2 Amos Alonzo Stagg. Touchdown! As Told by Coach Amos Alonzo Stagg to Wesley Winans Stout (1927). This book can be found in HeinOnline’s Business and Legal Aspects of Sports and Entertainment collection.
↑3 Donald Grant Sr. Herring. Forty Years of Football (1940). This book can be found in HeinOnline’s Business and Legal Aspects of Sports and Entertainment collection.
↑4 Elise Michael, School of Hark Knocks – The Impact of the NFL Concussion Litigation, 33 CARDOZO ARTS & ENT. L.J. 289 (2015). This article can be found in HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library.
↑5 Organized professional team sports. Hearings, Eighty-fifth Congress, second session, July 9-31, 1958. Part 3. This document can be found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents collection.
↑6 Telecasting of professional sports contests. Hearing before the Antitrust Subcommittee (Subcommittee No. 5) of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Eighty-seventh Congress, first session, on H.R. 8757, a bill to amend the antitrust laws to authorize leagues of professional football, baseball, basketball, and hockey teams to enter into certain television contracts, and for other purposes. August 28, 1961. This document can be found in HeinOnline’s U.S. Congressional Documents collection.
↑7 205 F. Supp. 60, AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE et al. v .NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE et al. May 21, 1962. This case can be found in Fastcase.