NFL Football
NFL Football — frequently asked questions
- What platforms is NFL Football on?
- NFL Football was released on Atari 2600, Intellivision.
- When did NFL Football release?
- NFL Football was first released on December 31, 1979.
About NFL Football
NFL Football is an early sports game that was released for the Intellivision, it was also released by Sears simply as Football.
Summary via IGDB.
NFL Football on Wikipedia
NFL Football is an American football video game developed by Mattel and released for its Intellivision system in 1980. The players each control a football team competing in a standard four-quarter game. Like Mattel's other sports video games, NFL Football did not use any official National Football League team names or player names, even though Mattel obtained a license from the NFL and used the league's logo in its box art. NFL Football has been cited as the first football video game to have a playbook.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Game details
- Platforms
- Atari 2600, Intellivision
- Developer
- APh Technological Consulting
- Publisher
- Mattel Electronics
- Game modes
- Multiplayer
- Series
- NFL
Details via IGDB.
Every version compared
Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release
| Platform | Year | Loose | Complete | Sealed | Period reviews | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intellivision | 1979 | $5 | $7 | $21 | Rating R · Graphics 8 · Game Play 7 · Longevity 7 | Low (look-alike) |
Release timeline
- Intellivision1979
- Atari 26001982
First release on each platform, from IGDB’s records of this game’s ports and editions. Remakes are separate games with their own pages, so they are not listed here.
We haven’t priced or authenticated the versions without a section on this page yet.
Collector value & authenticity
Intellivision · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-20
Other releases and variants
| Release | Loose | Complete | Sealed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sold as "Football" | $4 | $8 | — |
How often it sells
- Loose: about once a month
- Complete: about 2 times a month
- Sealed: about 6 times a year
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-20.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $1.59 in Apr 2009, $4.78 five years ago, and $5.34 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $0.75 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $0.75 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $2.49 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $4.00 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $0.99 | $5.21 |
| Jan 2015 | $3.75 | $5.99 |
| Jan 2016 | $5.95 | $0.99 |
| Jan 2017 | $4.24 | $5.00 |
| Jan 2018 | $5.01 | $9.04 |
| Jan 2019 | $4.02 | $7.98 |
| Jan 2020 | $4.81 | $6.95 |
| Jan 2021 | $4.00 | $8.56 |
| Jan 2022 | $5.87 | $7.34 |
| Jan 2023 | $4.83 | $9.97 |
| Jan 2024 | $4.00 | $9.99 |
| Jan 2025 | $3.04 | $9.13 |
| Jan 2026 | $6.11 | $6.96 |
| Oct 2026 | $5.34 | $7.49 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Documented sales
Just under 1,000,000 cartridges sold by June 1983
No exact figure has been published; the Blue Sky Rangers, Mattel's former programmers, list it with Astrosmash, Space Battle and Space Armada as just below the million mark at that date.
Source: Mattel Electronics' figures, as quoted by the Blue Sky Rangers
Release record
| Territory | Product # |
|---|---|
| North America Mattel Electronics | 2610 |
| North America Sears (Tele-Games) | 49 75201 |
- North America: Product number confirmed by a scan of the box.
- North America: Sears catalogue number, printed on the Sears Tele-Games box.
- Region
- NA
- Released
- 1979
- Controller
- Hand controller
- Players
- 2
- Authenticity
- Low
The Intellivision's flagship football game, deep and slow, and for two human players only.
Mattel's NFL Football put you in charge of a five-man team, one player at a time, with the computer steering the rest. It carried the league's license and shipped with a playbook, and period reviewers read that as both its strength and its burden. Electronic Games in late 1981 called it the best action version of pro football on any system, while noting that some fans found it too realistic and others found it slow.
Joystik rated it above any football cartridge then available in 1982, and a 1988 retrospective in Video Games and Computer Entertainment said its one real gap was the lack of a solo mode, because the computer could not play the other side. That is the thing to know before you buy: you need a second person on the other controller.
How it was made
Programmed by APh Technological Consulting for Mattel Electronics, per the Intellivision library listing.
What the press said at the time
| JoyStik Vol. 1 No. 3 | December 1982 | Rating R · Graphics 8 · Game Play 7 · Longevity 7 |
“The full-color graphics, and intense game strategies of NFL Football are superior to any football cartridge currently available.”
“But the cartridge most arcaders agree is the best "action" version of pro ball is the Intellivision's NFL Football. Mattel's NFL Football comes with a playbook that would make most college teams jealous.”
“Vastly superior to other football games. Only five men per team but you get over”
“No home game provides greater flexibility in offensive and defensive play-calling than this two-player contest. … But for real connoisseurs of football, there's no question that NFL Football holds a unique place of honor and reverence.”
JoyStik’s capsule ratings run from one star to five.
How the Intellivision version differs
Sears sold the game for its Super Video Arcade console, a private-label Intellivision, under the plain title Football and without the NFL name or logo.
Electronic Games said in 1981 that most arcade fans considered the Intellivision cartridge the best action version of pro football available for any system.
Mattel's own M Network brand later released a port of the game for the Atari 2600 in 1982, under the title Super Challenge Football.
Worth knowing
- From the Intellivision manual. This is the Sears Tele-Games and Super Video Arcade printing of the Mattel Football manual; the box name carries no NFL branding in the text.
- From the Intellivision manual. The playbook has over 160 offensive plays plus 10 defensive sets; each player controls only one captain while the computer moves the linemen.
- From the Intellivision manual. Four game speeds: pressing the disc gives the fastest Pro Ball speed, and the top-row number keys give slower speeds that are good for practice.
Before you buy
Two players are required, so test it with both controllers. The cartridge came with two keypad overlays and the playbooks, and they carry real value because the game is hard to play without them. Mattel's own cartridge is the common one; Sears sold the same game as Football, without the league name, and that copy is listed separately. INTV Corporation's later Super Pro Football is the remake with a computer opponent.
NFL Football screenshots
Watch on YouTube
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