The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league's American Football Conference West division. Starting in 2020, the Chargers will play their home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, which they will share with the Los Angeles Rams. The Los Angeles Chargers was founded on August 14, 1959, and began play on September 10, 1960, as a charter member of the American Football League. They spent their first season in Los Angeles before relocating to San Diego in 1961 to become the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers joined the NFL as result of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The return of the Chargers to Los Angeles was announced for the 2017 season, just one year after the Rams had moved back to the city from St. Louis. They have previously played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during their first stint in Los Angeles, Balboa Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium while in San Diego and Dignity Health Sports Park, formerly named StubHub Center, from 2017 to 2019 while SoFi Stadium was under construction.