The NFL was born at this Ohio car dealership

The Canton Car Dealership Meeting That Created Football

The NFL wasn’t born in a fancy boardroom but in a car dealership in Canton, Ohio.

On September 17, 1920, fifteen men from eleven teams met at Ralph Hay’s Hupmobile showroom to fix the mess in pro football.

Player salaries were rising, athletes jumped between teams, and college rules were broken left and right. With no chairs to spare, team owners sat on car running boards while Hay passed around buckets of beer.

By night’s end, they had formed the American Professional Football Association, picked Jim Thorpe as president, and set a $100 fee to join.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame now stands in Canton where you can see this humble birth honored among the “Eleven” sculptures.

Pro Football Was Falling Apart in 1920

Pro football was a mess in 1920. Players jumped teams mid-season for more money.

Team owners got into costly bidding wars. College players used fake names to play pro games.

Salaries kept going up. Teams often changed opponents last minute when they thought they could make more money.

The sport had no structure, with each team doing its own thing and fighting each other for business as much as playing against each other on the field.

A Car Dealer Saved Football From Itself

Ralph Hay started selling cars at 18 and built a successful Hupmobile dealership in Canton, Ohio. At just 27, he bought the Canton Bulldogs in 1918 mainly to promote his car business.

Hay hired Olympic star Jim Thorpe as player-coach, helping the Bulldogs draw big crowds. His team won unofficial world championships in 1916, 1917, and 1919.

Despite packed stands, the Bulldogs lost money because player salaries and bidding wars ate up all the profits.

Four Ohio Teams Met First to Fix the Problems

Hay called a meeting on August 20, 1920, at his dealership with people from three other Ohio teams. The Akron Pros, Cleveland Indians, and Dayton Triangles sent reps to talk about solutions.

They created a temporary “American Professional Football Conference” and agreed to stop stealing players from each other. The group set basic salary limits and banned college players.

Hay became secretary and promised to contact other major teams about joining.

The Invitation That Changed Sports Forever

Hay sent invites to ten more team owners to meet in Canton on September 17, 1920, at 8:00 PM. Teams from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and New York showed interest.

Hay planned to host everyone in his small office above the showroom. He got buckets of beer ready for the meeting, even though Prohibition was in effect.

The gathering would bring together the biggest names in pro football to create something new for American sports.

No Chairs? Just Sit on the Cars

Fifteen men showed up at Hay’s dealership that hot September night, too many for his tiny upstairs office. The group moved downstairs to the main showroom where two shiny Hupmobile cars sat.

With not enough chairs, some team reps sat on the running boards of the cars. The room got smoky and steamy as the men drank Hay’s illegal beer from buckets.

The casual setting seemed to fit a sport still finding its way.

One Team Quit Before They Started

The Massillon Tigers dropped out of pro football for the 1920 season as the first order of business. They couldn’t keep up money-wise with bigger teams.

This left eleven teams in the room: Canton Bulldogs, Akron Pros, Cleveland Indians, Dayton Triangles, Decatur Staleys, Chicago Cardinals, Hammond Pros, Muncie Flyers, Rock Island Independents, Rochester Jeffersons, and Buffalo All-Americans.

The remaining reps voted to create a formal league structure to govern pro football.

The World’s Greatest Athlete Became President

Jim Thorpe was picked as the first league president by unanimous vote.

The 32-year-old Canton star had won Olympic gold medals and was known nationwide as the “world’s greatest athlete.”

Hay turned down the job himself, thinking Thorpe’s fame would give the new league credibility with fans and newspapers.

The plan worked—Thorpe’s selection got more press coverage than the actual formation of the league. His name helped make pro football seem legitimate to the public.

They Named It, Set Rules, and Charged $100

On September 17, 1920, they made the American Professional Football Association official. Each team agreed to pay a $100 yearly membership fee, though most never actually paid it.

The owners set basic rules: no more bidding wars for players, reasonable salary limits, and no college players allowed. Teams promised to coordinate their schedules and standardize operations.

The meeting ended with handshakes instead of formal contracts to save pro football.

Four More Teams Jumped In Before Kickoff

The league grew to fourteen teams before the first games started.

The Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Tigers, Columbus Panhandles, and Detroit Heralds joined the original group.

Rock Island played the first official APFA game on September 26, 1920, beating St. Paul 48-0. Teams still scheduled their own opponents, including non-league teams.

No official standings existed that first season. The Akron Pros finished with an 8-0-3 record and got the championship, though few people noticed.

Money Problems Almost Killed the League

The 1920 season struggled with poor attendance and financial losses for most teams.

The league championship got so little attention that NFL record books listed the 1920 title as “undecided” until researchers in the 1970s confirmed Akron as the winner.

Joe Carr replaced Thorpe as president in 1921, bringing more business-focused leadership. The organization changed its name to the National Football League in 1922 to sound more established.

Many original teams folded or moved as they ran out of money.

Only Two Original Teams Survived

Just two franchises from that first meeting still exist today: the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals) and the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears).

The Canton Bulldogs won the first official NFL championships in 1922 and 1923 but folded by 1926. Hay sold the team in 1923 after his car business suffered financial problems.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame stands in Canton specifically because of the September 17, 1920 meeting.

Ralph Hay’s vision created the foundation for what became America’s most popular sport, all from the showroom of his car dealership.

Visiting Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton

The Pro Football Hall of Fame at 2121 George Halas Drive NW in Canton preserves the NFL’s 1920 founding story when fifteen men met in Ralph Hay’s car showroom, sitting on running boards to form what became the NFL.

General admission costs $45, with $15 discounts on Tuesdays for seniors, Thursdays for kids, and Sundays for college students.

Open 9am-5pm daily, the 118,000 square foot museum displays original meeting minutes and features bronze busts of all 382 Hall of Famers.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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