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, 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's Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh 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 the Houston Texans has played in an AFC Championship Game at least once, while the New York Jets and the Tennessee Titans have yet to host one. The Seattle 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 the Los Angeles Raiders for Super Bowl XVIII and, in their first appearance in an NFC conference title game, a win over the Carolina Panthers for Super Bowl XL. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most losses in the AFC Championship Game at 8 and have hosted the most at 11. The New England Patriots have won the most AFC Championships at 11, and played in a record eight straight AFC title games (2011–2018). The Patriots and Steelers are tied for most appearances, with 16 each. At least one of New England quarterback Tom Brady and Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played in every championship game between the 2003 and the 2018 seasons, except for the 2009 season. The Kansas City Chiefs have hosted the AFC Championship a record five consecutive times, between the 2018–2022 seasons.

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

Playoff structure

thumb|The redesigned Lamar Hunt Trophy, awarded since 2010–11 season

The structure of the NFL playoffs has changed several times since 1970. At the end of each regular season, the top teams in the AFC qualify for the postseason, including all division champions (three division winners from the 1970–71 to 2001–02 seasons; four since the 2002–03 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 to 1977–78 seasons; two wild cards from 1978–79 to 1989–90, and from 2002–03 to 2019–20; three from 1990–91 to 2001–02, and since 2020–21). 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. Since the 1975–76 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.

Lamar Hunt Trophy

Beginning with the 1984–85 NFL playoffs, the winner of the AFC Championship Game has received the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of the AFL and founder and longtime owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. The original design by Don Weller consisted of a wooden base with a sculpted AFC logo in the front and a relief sculpture of various football players in the back, with raised silver frieze utilized. The George Halas Trophy, awarded to the NFC Champion, used a similar design with a sculpted NFC logo.

For the 2010–11 NFL playoffs, the two conference trophies were redesigned by Tiffany & Co. at the request of the NFL in an attempt to make both awards more significant. The trophies are now a new, silver design with the outline of a hollow football positioned on a small base to more closely resemble the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the Super Bowl.

In recent years Conference 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.

List of AFC Championship Games

: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.

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

|-

! Season !! Playoffs !! Date !! Winning team !! Score !! Losing team !! Score !! Location !! Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1970–71 || January 3, 1971 || Baltimore Colts (1) ||27|| Oakland Raiders (1) ||17 ||Baltimore, Maryland || Memorial Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1971–72 || January 2, 1972 || Miami Dolphins (1) ||21|| Baltimore Colts (1) ||0 ||Miami, Florida || Miami Orange Bowl

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1972–73 || December 31, 1972 || Miami Dolphins (2) ||21|| Pittsburgh Steelers (1) ||17 ||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania || Three Rivers Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1973–74 || December 30, 1973 || Miami Dolphins (3) ||27|| Oakland Raiders (2) ||10|| Miami, Florida (2)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1974–75 || December 29, 1974 || Pittsburgh Steelers (1) ||24|| Oakland Raiders (3) ||13 ||Oakland, California || Oakland Coliseum

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1975–76 || January 4, 1976 || Pittsburgh Steelers (2) ||16|| Oakland Raiders (4) ||10 ||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2) || Three Rivers Stadium (2)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1976–77 || December 26, 1976 || Oakland Raiders (1) ||24|| Pittsburgh Steelers (2) ||7 ||Oakland, California (2) || Oakland Coliseum (2)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1977–78 || January 1, 1978 || Denver Broncos (1) ||20|| Oakland Raiders (5) ||17 ||Denver, Colorado || Mile High Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1978–79 || January 7, 1979 || Pittsburgh Steelers (3) ||34|| Houston Oilers (1) ||5 ||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (3) || Three Rivers Stadium (3)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1979–80 || January 6, 1980 || Pittsburgh Steelers (4) ||27|| Houston Oilers (2) ||13 ||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (4) || Three Rivers Stadium (4)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1980–81 || January 11, 1981 || Oakland Raiders (2) ||34|| San Diego Chargers (1) ||27 ||San Diego, California || Jack Murphy Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1981–82 || January 10, 1982 || Cincinnati Bengals (1) || 27 || San Diego Chargers (2) || 7 ||Cincinnati, Ohio || Riverfront Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1982–83 || January 23, 1983 || Miami Dolphins (4) ||14|| New York Jets (1) ||0||Miami, Florida (3)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1983–84 || January 8, 1984 || Los Angeles Raiders (3) ||30|| Seattle Seahawks (1) ||14||Los Angeles, California || Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1984–85 || January 6, 1985 || Miami Dolphins (5) ||45|| Pittsburgh Steelers (3) ||28||Miami, Florida (4)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1985–86 || January 12, 1986 || New England Patriots (1) ||31|| Miami Dolphins (1) ||14||Miami, Florida (5)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1986–87 || January 11, 1987 || Denver Broncos (2) ||23|| Cleveland Browns (1) ||20||Cleveland, Ohio || Cleveland Municipal Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1987–88 || January 17, 1988 || Denver Broncos (3) ||38|| Cleveland Browns (2) ||33||Denver, Colorado (2) || Mile High Stadium (2)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1988–89 || January 8, 1989 || Cincinnati Bengals (2) ||21|| Buffalo Bills (1) ||10||Cincinnati, Ohio (2) || Riverfront Stadium (2)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1989–90 || January 14, 1990 || Denver Broncos (4) ||37|| Cleveland Browns (3) ||21||Denver, Colorado (3) || Mile High Stadium (3)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1990–91 || January 20, 1991 || Buffalo Bills (1) ||51|| Los Angeles Raiders (6) ||3||Orchard Park, New York || Rich Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1991–92 || January 12, 1992 || Buffalo Bills (2) ||10|| Denver Broncos (1) ||7||Orchard Park, New York (2) || Rich Stadium (2)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1992–93 || January 17, 1993 || Buffalo Bills (3) ||29|| Miami Dolphins (2) ||10||Miami, Florida (6)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1993–94 || January 23, 1994 || Buffalo Bills (4) ||30|| Kansas City Chiefs (1) ||13||Orchard Park, New York (3) || Rich Stadium (3)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1994–95 || January 15, 1995 || San Diego Chargers (1) ||17|| Pittsburgh Steelers (4) ||13||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (5) || Three Rivers Stadium (5)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1995–96|| January 14, 1996 || Pittsburgh Steelers (5) ||20|| Indianapolis Colts (2) ||16 ||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (6) || Three Rivers Stadium (6)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1996–97 || January 12, 1997 || New England Patriots (2) ||20|| Jacksonville Jaguars (1) ||6||Foxborough, Massachusetts || Foxboro Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1997–98 || January 11, 1998 || Denver Broncos (5) ||24|| Pittsburgh Steelers (5) ||21||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (7) || Three Rivers Stadium (7)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1998–99 || January 17, 1999 || Denver Broncos (6) ||23|| New York Jets (2) ||10||Denver, Colorado (4) || Mile High Stadium (4)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|1999–00 || January 23, 2000 || Tennessee Titans (1) ||33|| Jacksonville Jaguars (2) ||14||Jacksonville, Florida || Alltel Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2000–01 || January 14, 2001 || Baltimore Ravens (1) ||16|| Oakland Raiders (7) ||3||Oakland, California (3) || Oakland Coliseum (3)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2001–02 || January 27, 2002 || New England Patriots (3) ||24||Pittsburgh Steelers (6) ||17||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (8) ||Heinz Field

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2002–03 || January 19, 2003 || Oakland Raiders (4) ||41|| Tennessee Titans (3) ||24||Oakland, California (4) || Network Associates Coliseum (4)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2003–04 || January 18, 2004 || New England Patriots (4) ||24|| Indianapolis Colts (3) ||14||Foxborough, Massachusetts (2) || Gillette Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2004–05 || January 23, 2005 || New England Patriots (5) ||41|| Pittsburgh Steelers (7) ||27||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (9) || Heinz Field (2)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2005–06 || January 22, 2006 || Pittsburgh Steelers (6) ||34|| Denver Broncos (2) ||17||Denver, Colorado (5) || Invesco Field at Mile High

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2006–07 || January 21, 2007 || Indianapolis Colts (2) ||38|| New England Patriots (1) ||34||Indianapolis, Indiana || RCA Dome

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2007–08 || January 20, 2008 || New England Patriots (6) ||21|| San Diego Chargers (3) ||12||Foxborough, Massachusetts (3) || Gillette Stadium (2)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2008–09 || January 18, 2009 || Pittsburgh Steelers (7) ||23|| Baltimore Ravens (1) ||14||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (10) || Heinz Field (3)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2009–10 || January 24, 2010 || Indianapolis Colts (3) ||30|| New York Jets (3)||17||Indianapolis, Indiana (2) || Lucas Oil Stadium

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2010–11 || January 23, 2011 || Pittsburgh Steelers (8) ||24|| New York Jets (4) ||19||Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (11) || Heinz Field (4)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2011–12 || January 22, 2012 || New England Patriots (7) ||23|| Baltimore Ravens (2) ||20||Foxborough, Massachusetts (4) || Gillette Stadium (3)

|-

|align=center| || align=center|2012–13 || January 20, 2013 || Baltimore Ravens (2) ||28|| New England Patriots (2) ||13||Foxborough, Massachusetts (5) || Gillette Stadium (4)

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2013–14 || January 19, 2014 || Denver Broncos (7) ||26|| New England Patriots (3) ||16||Denver, Colorado (6) || Sports Authority Field at Mile High (2)

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2014–15 || January 18, 2015 || New England Patriots (8) ||45 || Indianapolis Colts (4) ||7||Foxborough, Massachusetts (6) || Gillette Stadium (5)

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2015–16 || January 24, 2016 || Denver Broncos (8) || 20 || New England Patriots (4) || 18 ||Denver, Colorado (7) || Sports Authority Field at Mile High (3)

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2016–17 || January 22, 2017 || New England Patriots (9) || 36 || Pittsburgh Steelers (8) || 17 ||Foxborough, Massachusetts (7) || Gillette Stadium (6)

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2017–18 || January 21, 2018 || New England Patriots (10) || 24 || Jacksonville Jaguars (3) || 20 ||Foxborough, Massachusetts (8) || Gillette Stadium (7)

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2018–19 || January 20, 2019 || New England Patriots (11) || 37

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2019–20 || January 19, 2020 || Kansas City Chiefs (1) || 35 || Tennessee Titans (4) || 24 ||Kansas City, Missouri (2) || Arrowhead Stadium (2)

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2020–21 || January 24, 2021 || Kansas City Chiefs (2) || 38 || Buffalo Bills (2) || 24 ||Kansas City, Missouri (3) || Arrowhead Stadium (3)

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2021–22 || January 30, 2022 || Cincinnati Bengals (3) || 27

|-

| align=center| || align=center|2022–23 || January 29, 2023 || Kansas City Chiefs (3)|| 23 || Cincinnati Bengals (1) || 20 ||Kansas City, Missouri (5) ||Arrowhead Stadium (5)

|-

| align=center| || align=center| 2023–24 || January 28, 2024 || Kansas City Chiefs (4) || 17 || Baltimore Ravens (3) || 10 ||Baltimore, Maryland (2)

|-

| align=center| || align=center| 2024–25 || January 26, 2025 || Kansas City Chiefs (5) || 32 || Buffalo Bills (3) || 29 || Kansas City, Missouri (6) ||Arrowhead Stadium (6)

|-

| align=center| || align=center| 2025–26 || January 25, 2026 || New England Patriots (12) || 10 || Denver Broncos (3) || 7 || Denver, Colorado (8) || Empower Field at Mile High (4)

|}

Appearances, 1970–present

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.

The Houston Texans, the last current AFC team to have never made an appearance, are omitted. || 4 || 7 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1990, 2000, 2002

|-

|| 8 ||style="text-align:left;"|Kansas City Chiefs || 5|| 3 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1993, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

|-

|| 7 ||style="text-align:left;"|Miami Dolphins || 5 || 2 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1971, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1992

|-

|| 7 ||style="text-align:left;"|Buffalo Bills || 4 || 3 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2020, 2024

|-

|| 7 ||style="text-align:left;"|Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts || 3 || 4 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1970, 1971, 1995, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2014

|-

|| 5 ||style="text-align:left;"|Baltimore Ravens || 2 || 3 || || style="text-align:left;"| 2000, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2023

|-

|| 5 ||style="text-align:left;"|Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans || 1 || 4 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1978, 1979, 1999, 2002, 2019

|-

|| 4 ||style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati Bengals || 3 || 1 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1981, 1988, 2021, 2022

|-

|| 4 ||style="text-align:left;"|San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers || 1 || 3 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1980, 1981, 1994, 2007

|-

|| 4 ||style="text-align:left;"|New York Jets || 0 || 4 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1982, 1998, 2009, 2010

|-

|| 3 ||style="text-align:left;"|Jacksonville Jaguars || 0 || 3 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1996, 1999, 2017

|-

|| 3 ||style="text-align:left;"|Cleveland Browns || 0 || 3 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1986, 1987, 1989

|-

|| 1 ||style="text-align:left;"|Seattle Seahawks || 0 || 1 || || style="text-align:left;"| 1983

|-

|| 0 ||style="text-align:left;"|Houston Texans || 0 || 0 || || style="text-align:left;"|

|-

|| 0 ||style="text-align:left;"|Tampa Bay Buccaneers || 0 || 0 || || style="text-align:left;"|

|}

Records by division

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.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

!scope="col" rowspan=2|Division

!scope="col" colspan=4|Total

!scope="col" colspan=4|1970–2001

!scope="col" colspan=4|2002–present

|-

!scope="col"|

!scope="col"|Wins

!scope="col"|Losses

!scope="col"|Win %

!scope="col"|

!scope="col"|Wins

!scope="col"|Losses

!scope="col"|Win %

!scope="col"|

!scope="col"|Wins

!scope="col"|Losses

!scope="col"|Win %

|-

| AFC East

| 37

| 22

| 15

|

| 20

| 13

| 7

|

| 17

| 9

| 13

|

| 11

| 5

| 5

|

|-

| AFC West

| 36

| 18

| 18

|

| 22

| 10

| 12

|

| 13

| 8

  • Tennessee Titans
  • 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)
  • 2003: 41.5 million viewers
  • 2005: 44.3 million viewers
  • 2006: 39 million viewers
  • 2007: 46.7 million viewers
  • 2009: 42 million viewers
  • 2010: 42.3 million viewers
  • 2011: 54.9 million viewers
  • 2012: 48.7 million viewers
  • 2013: 47.7 million viewers
  • 2014: 51.3 million viewers
  • 2015: 42.1 million viewers
  • 2016: 53.3 million viewers
  • 2017: 41.2 million viewers
  • 2018: 53.9 million viewers
  • 2019: 41.1 million viewers
  • 2021: 47.8 million viewers
  • 2022: 53.1 million viewers
  • 2023: 55.5 million viewers
  • 2024: 57.4 million viewers

Footnotes