An NFL franchise team is a team that plays in the National Football League. There are 32 teams in the NFL, each of which belongs to a division within a conference. NFL franchises fall into the North, South, East, or West division of the National Football Conference or the American Football Conference. Four teams make up each division and four divisions make up a conference.
Throughout the life of the NFL, numerous franchise teams have moved, merged, or in some other way have developed into today's teams. The league's current franchise teams are:
Because football is a physically demanding sport, an NFL franchise team plays only 16 games during the regular season, meaning it cannot play every team in the league. Instead, it plays a specific schedule that consists of:
The success of an NFL franchise team can be attributed to any number of people within the organization, whether that be players on the field or personnel in the front office. Though this may vary among teams, the most important members of an NFL franchise's success often comes down to the team's owner, general manager, head coach, and quarterback for various reasons.
NFL franchise teams operate within their home territory, which is the city a team plays in. This territory includes a 75-mile radius from the outer limits of the city. There are a few exceptions to what constitutes a team's home territory and what their rights are, especially pertaining to franchises that operate in the same city or whose cities are within 75 miles of each other.