Four Super Bowls were played between the AFL and NFL before the merger. These championship games matched the winners of the two rival leagues while they still operated separately.
The first was played in January 1967, when the NFL champion Green Bay Packers defeated the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs. Green Bay also won Super Bowl II, but the AFL answered with victories by the New York Jets in Super Bowl III and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV.
Super Bowl IV, played in January 1970, was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game before the leagues officially combined. The merger agreement had been announced in 1966, but the leagues maintained separate regular seasons through 1969. Beginning with the 1970 season, the former AFL teams joined the AFC and the remaining NFL teams formed the NFC.
A common mix-up is counting Super Bowl V, but that game was already a championship between the new AFC and NFC. The Colts defeated the Cowboys 16–13 in that first post-merger Super Bowl.