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Chinese National Football League

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Chinese National Football League
Founded2013; 11 years ago (2013)
CountryChina
Number of clubs56
Level on pyramid1
Current championsShanghai Wolves
(2024)

The Chinese National Football League (CNFL), previously known as American Football League of China (AFLC) is the highest level American-rules football league in China. Founded in 2013, the AFLC has expanded rapidly and in 2019, the AFLC officially renamed into the CNFL.[1]

History

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The AFLC was founded in 2013 by Chris McLaurin,[2] a former football player for the University of Michigan Wolverines. McLaurin, working in Chongqing at the time, helped to organize a group of locals and expatriates who were interested in football into the Chongqing Dockers, whose first season was profiled by the New Republic in The Year of the Pigskin.[3] After organizing the Dockers and building relationships with other football clubs that were beginning to pop up around the country, McLaurin organized a meeting of the original eight AFLC teams in Shanghai to form the league (also attended by former Michigan and NFL running back Mike Hart). The first AFLC season featured two divisions: the Beijing Cyclones, Shanghai Titans, Shanghai Warriors and Tianjin Pirates in the East, and the Chongqing Dockers, Chengdu Mustangs, Guangzhou Tigers and Hong Kong Warhawks in the West. Not all of the early teams were accepted into the league, such as the Suzhou Blue Knights, who still play non-conference games with league teams. The 2013 season culminated in the first AFLC Championship Game at Luwan Stadium in Shanghai on January 12, 2014, and saw the Dockers defeat the Warriors 24-16[4] to capture the first AFLC Championship.

In 2014, the League expanded to 12 teams, it shrank slightly to 10 teams in 2015, and in 2016 featured 14 teams in three divisions. In 2017, the league expanded once again to feature 18 teams playing in 4 divisions. In addition, Chris McLaurin stepped down from the commissioner role and the AFLC named Datong Wang as his successor. Chris McLaurin went on to consult various football organizations in China, including the NFL, Nike Sports Camps and Fosun Group. In 2018, the League expanded once again to twenty teams in four regional divisions, and expanded to a twelve team playoff, with 4 division champions earning first round byes. In 2019, the league renamed itself to the CNFL.

In 2024, the CNFL consists of 56 teams, including teams from Hong Kong and Taiwan, divided into A and B groups depending on their level of competitiveness. Each Group is then split into 4 divisions, North, South, East, and West.

CNFL Champions

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Season Champion
2013 Chongqing Dockers (24-16, over the Shanghai Warriors)
2014 Shanghai Nighthawks (26-24, over the Shanghai Titans)
2015 Shanghai Warriors (37-30, over the Shanghai Nighthawks)
2016 Shanghai Titans (28-6, over Shanghai Nighthawks)
2017 Shanghai Warriors (30-20, over Shanghai Titans)
2018 Shanghai Warriors (40-34, Overtime over Shanghai Titans)
2019 Wuhan Berserkers (36-13, over Shanghai Titans)
2020 Hangzhou Smilodons (33-24, over Chengdu Pandaman)
2021 Shanghai Titans (27-14, over Chengdu Pandaman)
2022 Shanghai Wolves (20-8, over Hangzhou Smilodons)
2023 Shanghai Wolves (34-9, over Hangzhou Smilodons)

Media coverage

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Coverage in Western markets

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Major media outlets such as BBC World News, ESPN,[5] and NPR[6] have included the AFLC in their coverage, and extensive features on McLaurin and the AFLC have printed in Time,[7] Global Times, The Atlantic, Esquire,[8] The New Republic,[3] Quartz[9] and Asean Weekly.[10]

Coverage in Chinese markets

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The AFLC is frequently featured in local and national media around China, including extensive national coverage on Shanghai Media Group's International Channel Shanghai, CCTV 9,[11] World Insight, QQ Sports,[12] Sina Sports,[13][14][15] and China Daily,[16] as well as frequent pieces on local TV, radio, and print news in many of the AFLC's regional markets. The AFLC's strong local Chinese-language media profile owes in large part to the fundamental integration of Chinese players, managers, and league administrators into the AFLC structure.

Coverage by international football community

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The AFLC has received extensive coverage by American Football International (AFI), a leading international review of American rules football play around the world. Articles are regularly written about the league by AFI staff, and scores and standings[17] of AFLC games are accessible on their website. The AFLC has also been profiled by the Gridiron Leaders’ Foundation,[18] NFL China[19] and NFL Hupu.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "HK American Football News 香港美式足球報 - The AFLC has changed its name to the CNFL". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  2. ^ "Chris McLaurin Bio - Michigan Football - MGoBlue.com". Archived from the original on 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  3. ^ a b Beam, Christopher (2014-04-09). "Year of the Pigskin". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  4. ^ "The World of Chinese | How People Live in Contemporary China". The World of Chinese. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  5. ^ "American football making worldwide inroads". ESPN.com. 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  6. ^ "Far From Sunday's Super Bowl, A Football Championship In China". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  7. ^ "Is China About to Fall in Love With American Football?". Time. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  8. ^ "当美式橄榄球遇上重庆年轻人-专题-Esquire时尚先生网". www.esquire.com.cn. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  9. ^ Commentary, Matthew Sedacca (11 September 2016). "American football's next big fanbase is China". Quartz. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  10. ^ "Going for the touchdown - ASEAN Weekly - China Daily". Archived from the original on 2017-02-14. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  11. ^ 探索资本. "【CCTV纪录片】中国洋山港《东方大港》世界最大全自动化码头_哔哩哔哩_bilibili". www.bilibili.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  12. ^ "美国人的第一运动 在中国也正以惊人速度发展_体育_腾讯网". sports.qq.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  13. ^ "聚焦重庆码头工美式橄榄球队 励志故事望登上大荧幕". sports.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  14. ^ 新浪体育讯 (2016-09-29). "NFL传奇名将曼宁再登球场 指导中国橄榄球爱好者". sports.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  15. ^ "AFLC总决赛精彩瞬间_高清图集_新浪网". slide.sports.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  16. ^ "Scoring a touchdown in China|Shanghai special|chinadaily.com.cn". usa.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  17. ^ "China Archives".
  18. ^ designthemes (2016-02-22). "American Football League of China (AFLC) Championship a Historic Success". US China Gridiron Leaders. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  19. ^ "AFLC第三轮总结及第四轮预测_NFL中文官网". www.nflchina.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  20. ^ "虎扑社区". bbs.hupu.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
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