First played | January 3, 1971 (1970 season) |
---|---|
Trophy | Lamar Hunt Trophy |
2023 season | |
M&T Bank Stadium Baltimore, Maryland January 28, 2024 Kansas City Chiefs 17, Baltimore Ravens 10 |
The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American 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. The AFC champion then advances to face the winner of the NFC Championship Game in the Super Bowl.
The game was established as part of the 1970 merger between the NFL and the American Football League (AFL), with the merged league realigning into two conferences. Since 1984,[1] each winner of the AFC Championship Game has also received the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of the AFL and founder and longtime owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Hunt.