Looking up NFL teams in alphabetical order sounds simple until you realize how many people need it for surprisingly practical reasons. Fantasy football draft boards, sports trivia nights, filling out bracket sheets, building databases for sports apps, or just settling an argument about how many teams have a city name that starts with "New." The sorted list below covers all 32 franchises from Arizona to Washington, and the tool above will alphabetize any custom team list you throw at it.
The National Football League has exactly 32 teams split evenly between two conferences - the AFC and NFC - with four divisions of four teams each. That clean structure took decades to build. The league started with just a handful of teams in the 1920s, merged with the AFL in 1970, and reached its current 32-team format when the Houston Texans joined as an expansion franchise in 2002.
AFC vs. NFC: How the League Is Organized
The NFL's two conferences each hold 16 teams across four geographic divisions: North, South, East, and West. The AFC (American Football Conference) traces its roots to the old American Football League that merged with the NFL in 1970. The NFC (National Football Conference) is made up of the original NFL franchises plus a few that shifted during realignment.
Conference alignment matters because it determines who plays who during the regular season. Teams within the same division play each other twice a year - once at home, once away. That's why rivalries like Cowboys-Eagles, Steelers-Ravens, and Packers-Bears burn so hot. You're guaranteed to face those opponents every single season.
The AFC currently has teams like the Kansas City Chiefs (back-to-back-to-back Super Bowl champions from 2023 to 2025), the Buffalo Bills, and the Baltimore Ravens. The NFC features storied franchises like the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers. The two conferences don't meet head-to-head until the Super Bowl, which is why winning your conference championship is such a big deal.
The Oldest and Newest Franchises
The Arizona Cardinals are the oldest continuously operating professional football team in the country, founded in 1898 as the Morgan Athletic Club on the South Side of Chicago. They played as the Chicago Cardinals, then the St. Louis Cardinals, then the Phoenix Cardinals before settling on Arizona in 1994. The Green Bay Packers (1919) and Chicago Bears (1920) are the next oldest, and both have stayed in their original cities - which is remarkable given how often NFL teams relocate.
At the other end of the timeline, the Houston Texans (2002) are the youngest franchise. Houston had lost the Oilers to Tennessee in 1997 and spent five years without a team before the NFL awarded an expansion franchise. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers, both founded in 1995, were the previous newest additions. The 1960 class was the biggest - eight of the 32 current teams were founded that year as part of the AFL's launch, including the Bills, Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Dolphins (as AFL), Jets, Patriots, and Raiders.
Stadiums and Cities
Every NFL team has a home stadium, though not all of them are in the city the team is named after. The New York Giants and New York Jets both play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey - not in New York at all. The Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington, Texas. The Washington Commanders play in Landover, Maryland. The San Francisco 49ers moved to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara in 2014, about 40 miles south of San Francisco.
Two teams share a stadium in only one case: the Giants and Jets at MetLife, and the Rams and Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. SoFi opened in 2020 and cost roughly $5.5 billion to build, making it the most expensive stadium in the world. Lambeau Field in Green Bay is on the opposite end of the spectrum - it opened in 1957 and seats over 81,000 fans who brave subzero temperatures. The Packers have a season ticket waiting list with over 130,000 names on it. The estimated wait time is around 30 years.
Teams by Division
The four-team division structure creates natural groupings that drive scheduling and rivalries. The NFC North (Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings) features some of the coldest weather games in football - the legendary "Ice Bowl" between the Packers and Cowboys in 1967 was played at -13°F. The AFC West (Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders) spans from Missouri to Nevada. The NFC East (Cowboys, Commanders, Eagles, Giants) is often called the most valuable division in sports, with the Cowboys alone valued at over $9 billion.
Division standings determine playoff seeding, so the regular-season race within each four-team group drives the most intense competition. Win your division and you're guaranteed a home playoff game. Every team plays all three division opponents twice, so 6 of your 17 regular-season games are divisional matchups. Those games tend to be closer, harder-hitting, and louder than everything else on the schedule.