2020
The Kansas City Chiefs earned their first league crown in 50 years, defeating the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20, in Super Bowl LIV.
NFL players voted to ratify a new, transformative 10-year Collective Bargaining Agreement that included an option to expand teams’ regular-season schedules to 17 games, increased benefits for current and retired players, raised minimum player salaries and expanded rosters to 55 players on March 14.
Meeting remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NFL owners for the first time since 1990 voted to expand the postseason, announcing both AFC and NFC playoff fields would include an additional qualifier, a No. 7 seed on March 31. Wild Card Weekend changed to six total games, three in each conference, with winners advancing to a Divisional round hosted by the highest-surviving seeds.
The NFL held its annual draft in virtual fashion during the COVID-19 pandemic, with all selections and trades made remotely, and Commissioner Roger Goodell announcing selections from his New York home. On television, the three-day event established all-time highs for media consumption, topping 55 million viewers, and the NFL family raised more than $100 million to benefit pandemic-relief efforts across the country.
The NFL expanded the Rooney Rule, prohibiting clubs from denying an assistant coach the opportunity to apply for a coordinator role or a burgeoning football executive from interviewing for a bona fide assistant general manager position on May 19. Changes also required that clubs interview at least two external minority candidates for head coach vacancies, and that clubs must interview minorities and/or women for all senior-level positions.
The Washington Redskins franchise announced it will be known as the Washington Football Team until a permanent new name is chosen on July 13.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL announced the cancellation of all 2020 preseason games on July 27.
Two new stadiums opened their doors in primetime slots, as SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles saw the Rams top the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football on Sept. 13 and Allegiant Stadium, adjacent to the Las Vegas strip, saw the home-team Raiders defeat the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football on Sept. 21.
Chronology of Football (2020-present)
2020
The Kansas City Chiefs earned their first league crown in 50 years, defeating the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20, in Super Bowl LIV.
NFL players voted to ratify a new, transformative 10-year Collective Bargaining Agreement that included an option to expand teams’ regular-season schedules to 17 games, increased benefits for current and retired players, raised minimum player salaries and expanded rosters to 55 players, March 14.
Meeting remotely due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, NFL owners for the first time since 1990 voted to expand the postseason, announcing both AFC and NFC playoff fields would include an additional qualifier, a No. 7 seed. Wild Card Weekend changed to six total games, three in each conference, with winners advancing to a Divisional round hosted by the highest-surviving seeds, March 31.
The NFL held its annual draft in virtual fashion during the COVID-19 pandemic, with all selections and trades made remotely, and Commissioner Roger Goodell announcing selections from his New York home. On television, the three-day event established all-time highs for media consumption, topping 55 million viewers, and the NFL family raised more than $100 million to benefit pandemic-relief efforts across the country.
The NFL expanded the Rooney Rule, prohibiting clubs from denying an assistant coach the opportunity to apply for a coordinator role or a burgeoning football executive from interviewing for a bona fide assistant general manager position. Changes also required that clubs interview at least two external minority candidates for head coach vacancies, and that clubs must interview minorities and/or women for all senior-level positions, May 19.
The Washington Redskins franchise announced it will be known as the Washington Football Team until a permanent new name is chosen, July 13.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL announced the cancellation of all 2020 preseason games, July 27.
Two new stadiums opened their doors in primetime slots, as SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles saw the Rams top the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football on Sept. 13 and Allegiant Stadium, adjacent to the Las Vegas strip, saw the home-team Raiders defeat the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football on Sept. 21.
2021
With 13 new grants to nonprofit organizations and additional funding to support closing the “digital divide” as part of its social justice initiative, Inspire Change, the league announced it had topped $95 million in support of programs focused on education, economic advancement, police and community relations, and criminal justice reform, encouraging unity and respect in communities, Jan. 8.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a paper jointly authored with NFL-NFLPA medical experts and epidemiologists. The publication shared the benefit of the NFL's COVID- 19 mitigation strategy, with elements that the CDC paper said could be broadly applicable throughout society to limit the spread of the virus. Evidence generated by NFL data led to a revised definition of High-Risk Contacts that led contact tracers and medical experts to consider information beyond duration and distance.
In his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady earned his seventh Super Bowl championship, more than any franchise, leading his team to a 31-9 triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. The Bucs earned the right to become the first NFL team to play a Super Bowl on its home field by winning road playoff games in three straight weeks. Brady also captured his record fifth Super Bowl MVP, Feb. 7.
The NFL reached long-term agreements with media partners Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, FOX and NBC for the distribution of NFL games, the industry's most valuable content, over television and digital platforms, as well as additional media rights, expanding the NFL’s digital footprint to reach a broader audience while maintaining its commitment to keep all NFL games on over-the-air television. The new agreements will begin with the 2023 season and run through the 2033 season, the league announces, March 18.
Recognizing it as a monumental moment in league history, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL announced an enhanced season structure with each team playing 17 regular-season games. At a virtual league meeting, NFL clubs approved the league’s first scheduling structure change since 1978, March 30.
The league announced its first U.S. sportsbook partnerships as Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings and FanDuel reached agreements to become Official Sports Betting Partners of the NFL, giving all three exclusive ability to leverage NFL marks within the sports-betting category and activate around retail and online sports betting, April 15.
Amazon Prime Video will become the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football beginning with the 2022 season, the NFL announced May 3.
The NFL officially opened a 450,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building, housing NFL Network studios and league offices, adjacent to SoFi Stadium at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles, Sept. 8.
John Madden, legendary NFL coach, broadcaster and video-game innovator, died at the age of 85, Dec. 28.
The NFL granted a total of 18 teams access to 26 international Home Marketing Areas (HMA) across eight countries, Dec. 30.
2022
The Washington Football Team changed its name to the Washington Commanders, Feb. 2.
The league announced it will stage the first regular-season game in Germany, with Munich hosting a 2022 contest, and confirmed that Frankfurt also will host future NFL games, Feb. 9.
The Los Angeles Rams captured their fourth world championship and second Super Bowl title, edging the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20, at Super Bowl LVI in the Rams’ home, SoFi Stadium, Feb. 13.
At the annual meeting, NFL clubs adopted a playing-rules change to allow both teams an opportunity to possess the ball in overtime of postseason games, March 28.
NFL membership unanimously approved the sale and transition of the Denver Broncos from the Pat Bowlen Trust to the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group, Aug. 9.
In the first regular-season NFL game available exclusively on a streaming platform, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, 27-24, on Amazon Prime Video, Sept. 15.
Calling it one of his greatest football experiences, Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 21-16 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Germany, at Munich’s Allianz Arena, Nov. 13.
The Minnesota Vikings completed the largest comeback in NFL history, erasing a 33-point deficit in a 39-36 overtime victory over the Indianapolis Colts at U.S. Bank Stadium, Dec. 18.
2023
Art McNally, the first on-field official enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a mammoth figure in league history for his integrity and class, passes away at age 97, Jan. 1.
Buffalo Bills assistant athletic trainer Denny Kellington performed CPR on Damar Hamlin, saving the player’s life during a game in Cincinnati, Jan. 2. … Hamlin’s miraculous recovery over the next few weeks inspires the NFL to found a coalition to advance the adoption of live-saving policies for student-athletes, the Smart Heart Sports Coalition, advocating for all 50 states to adopt policies that will prevent fatal outcomes from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) among high-school students (announced March 27).
At Super Bowl LVII in Arizona, the Kansas City Chiefs won their second Super Bowl title in four years – and third in franchise history – with a dramatic, 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, Feb. 12.
Jerry Richardson, who founded the Carolina Panthers in 1993, owned the franchise over its first 25 NFL seasons and played on the Baltimore Colts’ 1959 NFL Championship team, passed away at age 86, March 1.
The NFL announced an expansion of its NFL Africa program into Kenya, hosting a camp to identify talent as well as a flag-football showcase, continuing to grow the game at all levels on the continent after a similar 2022 initiative in Ghana, April 10.
Norma Hunt, widow of late Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt, died at the age of 85, Jun. 4.
NFL clubs unanimously approved the sale of the Washington Commanders franchise to Josh Harris and his limited partners, Jul. 20.
Tottenham Hotspur and the NFL announced the expansion of their partnership through the 2029–2030 NFL season, Sept. 14.
Bill Belichick became the third head coach in NFL history with 300 career regular season wins, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Don Shula and George Halas, Oct. 22.
Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdown passes as the Chiefs defeated the Dolphins, 21-14, in the first regular- season game played in Frankfurt, Germany, Nov. 5.
NFL clubs voted to approve an increase in league-operated international game inventory from four to up to eight games a season beginning in 2025, as the league continues to emphasize global growth as a major strategic priority, Dec. 23.
2024
The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Miami Dolphins, 26-7, on Peacock in the first exclusive live streamed NFL playoff game.
The 2023 NFL playoffs averaged 38.5 million viewers for the Wild Card, Divisional and Conference Championship rounds – setting a new record for the most watched playoffs ever (records date back to 1988), Jan. 30.
The NFL announced that it will play a regular season game in Madrid, Spain in 2025, as the NFL prioritizes global growth and expands the International Games to new cities and markets around the world, Feb. 9.
In the second Super Bowl ever to go to overtime, the Chiefs defeated the 49ers, 25-22, as Kansas City became the first team since the 2003-04 Patriots to win back-to-back Super Bowls. CBS Sports' coverage of Super Bowl LVIII delivered the most-watched telecast in history with a 123.4 million average viewers across all platforms, Feb. 11.
NFL clubs approved for one season a new hybrid kickoff rule that dramatically alters the look and feel of the kickoff, featuring new alignments for both the kicking and receiving teams, Mar. 26.
The 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit set a new attendance record after more than 700,000 fans were in attendance for the three-day event, including a record 275,000 people for the first round, Apr. 27.
The NFL and Netflix announced a three-season deal beginning in 2024 with two Christmas Day games. Netflix will stream at least one holiday game each year of the three-year deal, May 15.
The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers, 34-29, in the NFL’s first game in South America at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil, Sept. 6.
The NFL set a Thanksgiving Day viewership record for the third consecutive year. The average viewership across all three games – Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions, New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins vs. Green Bay Packers – was 34.2 million, Dec. 3.
Netflix’s first ever NFL Christmas delivered the two most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history with an average audience of over 24 million viewers each, Dec. 26.