January 15
January 15, 1967: The First Super Bowl
Summary
The NFL champion Green Bay Packers and AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs met at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Green Bay broke open a close game after halftime and won 35-10 behind quarterback Bart Starr and receiver Max McGee. CBS and NBC both televised the matchup, the first game between teams from the rival leagues. The event was only later designated Super Bowl I.
Why It Matters
The championship put the AFL and NFL on the same field during the merger process and began the series that became American sports' most prominent annual spectacle. What started as an interleague title game grew into a major cultural and media institution. It also marked a crucial step toward the unified league structure that took full effect in 1970 and still shapes professional football.
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OpenPlay Football: The first AFL-NFL championship game connects directly to Super Bowl history, the league merger, professional-football organization, and football culture.
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Sources
- 1967, Pro Football Hall of Fame. Accessed 2026-08-09.
- Super Bowl 50 marks landmark occasion for NFL's biggest stage, NFL.com. Accessed 2026-08-09.