AFC Championship Game

First played	January 3, 1971 (1970 season)
Trophy	Lamar Hunt Trophy
2024 season
Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, Missouri January 26, 2025 Kansas City Chiefs 32 Buffalo Bills 29

TheAFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of theAmerican Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinalplayoff games of theNational Football League (NFL), the largest professionalAmerican football league in the world. The game is played on the last Sunday in January by the two remaining playoff teams, following the AFC postseason's first two rounds. TheAFC champion then advances to face the winner of theNFC Championship Game in theSuper Bowl.

The game was established as part of the1970 merger between the NFL and theAmerican Football League (AFL), with the merged league realigning into twoconferences. Since 1984,^[1] each winner of the AFC Championship Game has also received theLamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of the AFL and founder and longtime owner of theKansas City Chiefs,Lamar Hunt.

The first AFC Championship Game was played following the 1970 regular season after themerger between the NFL and the AFL. The game is considered the successor to the formerAFL Championship, and its game results are listed with that of its predecessor in the annualNFL Record and Fact Book.^[2] Since the pre-merger NFL consisted of six more teams than the AFL (16 teams for the NFL and 10 for the AFL), a realignment was required as part of the merger to create two conferences with an equal number of teams: The NFL'sBaltimore Colts,Cleveland Browns, andPittsburgh Steelers joined the ten former AFL teams to form the AFC; while the remaining 13 pre-merger NFL clubs formed the NFC.

Every current AFC team except theHouston Texans has played in an AFC Championship Game at least once, while theNew York Jets and theTennessee Titans have yet to host one. TheSeattle Seahawks, who have been members in both the AFC and the NFC, hold the distinction of appearing in both conference title games, a loss in the AFC conference title game to theLos Angeles Raiders forSuper Bowl XVIII and, in their first appearance in an NFC conference title game, a win over theCarolina Panthers forSuper Bowl XL. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most losses in the AFC Championship Game at 8, along with most appearances at 16, and have hosted the most at 11. TheNew England Patriots have won the most AFC Championships at 11, and played in a record eight straight AFC title games (2011–2018). At least one of New England quarterbackTom Brady and Pittsburgh quarterbackBen Roethlisberger played in every championship game between the 2003 and the 2018 seasons, except for the 2009 season. TheKansas City Chiefs have hosted the AFC Championship a record five consecutive times, between the 2018–2022 seasons.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

TheDenver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers are the only two AFC teams to appear in at least one AFC Championship game in every decade since 1970.

The structure of theNFL playoffs has changed several times since 1970. At the end of eachregular season, the top teams in theAFC qualify for the postseason, including all division champions (three division winners from the1970–71 to2001–02 seasons; four since the2002–03 season) and a set number of "wild card" teams that possess the best win–loss records after the regular season yet fail to win their division (one wild card team from the 1970–71 to1977–78 seasons; two wild cards from1978–79 to1989–90, and from 2002–03 to2019–20; three from1990–91 to 2001–02, and since2020–21). The two teams remaining following the Wild Card round (first round) and the Divisional round (second round) play in the AFC Championship Game, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl.

Initially, the site of the AFC Championship Game was determined on a rotating basis.^[8]: 10 Since the1975–76 season, the site of the game has been based on playoff seeding based on the regular season won-loss record, with the highest surviving seed hosting the game. A wild card team can only host the game if both participants are wild cards; such an instance has yet to occur in the NFL.^[9]

External image
The (former version of the) Lamar Hunt Trophy on display at a press conference at the Westin Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Getty Images. January 20, 2006.

Beginning with the1984–85 NFL playoffs,^[1] the winner of the AFC Championship Game has received theLamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of the AFL and founder and longtime owner of theKansas City Chiefs. The original design by Don Weller consisted of a wooden base with a sculpted AFC logo in the front and a sculpture of various football players in the back, with raisedsilver frieze utilized.^[10]

For the2010–11 NFL playoffs, the Lamar Hunt Trophy and theGeorge Halas Trophy, which is awarded to the NFC Champion, were redesigned byTiffany & Co. at the request of the NFL in an attempt to make both awards more significant.^[11] The trophies are now a new, silver design with the outline of a hollow football positioned on a small base to more closely resemble theVince Lombardi Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of theSuper Bowl.^[12]

In recent yearsConference championship rings are also awarded to members of the team who wins the AFC or NFC championship since they are the winners of the conference, even though they may not necessarily follow it up with a win in the Super Bowl.^[13][14]

Numbers in parentheses in the winning team and losing team columns are AFC Championships won and lost by that team.Bold indicates team won Super Bowl that year.Numbers in parentheses in the city and stadium column is the number of times that metropolitan area and stadium has hosted an AFC Championship, respectively.

In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of appearances, then by number of wins, and finally by year of first appearance.

TheHouston Texans, the last current AFC team to have never made an appearance, are omitted.^{[fn 7]}

In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of appearances, then by number of wins, and finally by year of first appearance. In the "Season(s)" column,bold years indicate winning Conference Championship appearances.

The table below shows AFC Championship Game records by division, based on the division the franchise was in during the season the championship game was played. The NFL realigned divisions prior to the 2002 season, renaming the AFC Central as the AFC North, creating the AFC South, and shifting several teams among the divisions.

• Most victories: 11** –New England Patriots (1985,1996,2001,2003,2004,2007,2011,2014,2016,2017,2018)
• Most losses: 8 –Pittsburgh Steelers, (1972,1976,1984,1994,1997,2001,2004,2016)
• Most appearances: 16 –Pittsburgh Steelers (1972, 1974–1976, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2016)
• Most consecutive appearances: 8** –New England Patriots (2011–2018)
• Most consecutive victories: 4** –Buffalo Bills (1990–1993)
• Most appearances without a win: 4** –New York Jets (1982, 1998, 2009, 2010)
• Most consecutive losses before first win: 4* –Oakland Raiders (1970, 1973, 1974, 1975)
• Most consecutive appearances without a win: 4 (tie)
  • Oakland Raiders (1970, 1973, 1974, 1975)
  • New York Jets (1982, 1998, 2009, 2010)
• Most defensive shutouts: 2* –Miami Dolphins (1971, 21–0 vs Colts and1982, 14–0 vs Jets)
• Most consecutive losses: 3* –Oakland Raiders (1973–1975)
• Most games hosted: 11* –Pittsburgh Steelers (1972, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2010)
• Most consecutive games hosted: 5** –Kansas City Chiefs (2018–2022)
• Most common matchups: 5 (tie)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Oakland Raiders (1974, 1975, 1976)
  • Cleveland Browns vs. Denver Broncos (1986, 1987, 1989)
  • New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (2001, 2004, 2016)
  • New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts (2003, 2006, 2014)
  • Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs (1993, 2020, 2024)
• Most points scored: 51 – January 20, 1991 (1990) –Buffalo Bills (51) vs.Los Angeles Raiders (3)
• Largest margin of victory: 48 points** – January 20, 1991 (1990) –Buffalo Bills (51) vs.Los Angeles Raiders (3)
• Smallest margin of victory: 2 points – January 24, 2016 (2015) –Denver Broncos (20) vs.New England Patriots (18)
• Fewest points scored, winning team: 10 – January 12, 1992 (1991) –Buffalo Bills (10) vs.Denver Broncos (7)
• Fewest points scored: 0* (tie)
  • January 2, 1972 (1971) –Baltimore Colts 0 vs.Miami Dolphins 21
  • January 23, 1983 (1982) –New York Jets (0) vs.Miami Dolphins (14)
• Most points scored, losing team: 34** – January 21, 2007 (2006) –New England Patriots (34) vs.Indianapolis Colts (38)
• Most combined points scored: 73 – January 6, 1985 (1984) –Miami Dolphins (45) vs.Pittsburgh Steelers (28)
• Fewest combined points scored: 14 – January 23, 1983 (1982) –Miami Dolphins (14) vs.New York Jets (0)
• Longest game: 65 minutes, 48 seconds – January 11, 1987 (1986) –Denver Broncos (23) vs.Cleveland Browns (20), OT
• Most AFC Championships lost in overtime: 2* –Kansas City Chiefs (2018, 2021)
• Current teams which have never appeared in an AFC Championship Game:Houston Texans
• Current teams which have never hosted an AFC Championship Game:
  • Houston Texans
  • New York Jets^{[fn 22]}
  • Tennessee Titans^{[fn 23]}
• Current teams which have never won an AFC Championship Game:
  • Cleveland Browns (0–3)
  • Houston Texans (0–0)
  • Jacksonville Jaguars (0–3)
  • New York Jets (0–4)^{[fn 22]}
• Longest drought without appearing in an AFC Championship Game:Cleveland Browns (last appearance –1989)
• Longest drought without an AFC Championship:New York Jets^{[fn 22]}
• Highest attendance: 91,445** –Seattle Seahawks vs.Los Angeles Raiders at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 8, 1984 (1983)
• Largest comeback: 18 points** (tie)
  • Indianapolis Colts (trailed 21–3; won 38–34), 2006
  • Cincinnati Bengals (trailed 21–3; won 27–24), 2021
• Overtime games:
  • 1986: Denver Broncos 23, Cleveland Browns 20
  • 2018: New England Patriots 37, Kansas City Chiefs 31
  • 2021: Cincinnati Bengals 27, Kansas City Chiefs 24

Notes:

• *Tied for Conference Championship record
• **Conference Championship record

• 1982: 51.6 million viewers^[70]
• 2003: 41.5 million viewers
• 2005: 44.3 million viewers
• 2006: 39 million viewers^[71]
• 2007: 46.7 million viewers^[72]
• 2009: 42 million viewers^[73]
• 2010: 42.3 million viewers
• 2011: 54.9 million viewers^[74]
• 2012: 48.7 million viewers^[75][76]
• 2013: 47.7 million viewers^[77]
• 2014: 51.3 million viewers^[78]
• 2015: 42.1 million viewers^[79]
• 2016: 53.3 million viewers^[80]
• 2017: 41.2 million viewers^[81]
• 2018: 53.9 million viewers^[82]
• 2019: 41.1 million viewers^[82]
• 2020: 41.8 million viewers^[83]
• 2021: 47.8 million viewers^[84]
• 2022: 53.1 million viewers^[85]
• 2023: 55.5 million viewers^[86]
• 2024: 57.4 million viewers^[87]

• AFC Championship Games
• Recurring sporting events established in 1971

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