American football in the United States

American football in the United States
American football in the United States
	The Navy Midshipmen (left in blue) line up on offense against the Army Black Knights in the annual Army–Navy Game at Giants Stadium in December 2002
Country	United States
Governing body	USA Football
National team(s)	United States
First played	September 17, 1869 in New Brunswick, New Jersey
Registered players	5 million+
Club competitions
	List Men's:; National Football League (Major league); United Football League (High-level minor league); Gridiron Developmental Football League (Low-level minor league); Rivals Professional Football League (Low-level minor league)Women's:; Women's Football Alliance(Major league);
International competitions
	IFAF World Championship

American football is a form of gridiron football and the most popular sport in the United States. In the United States, the game is most often referred to as simply "football". Football is played in leagues of different size, age and quality, in all regions of the country.

There is no single national governing body for American football in the United States or a continental governing body for North America. There is an international governing body, the International Federation of American Football, or IFAF. The National Football League has the highest revenue and average attendance of any sports league in the world.