The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960, and first took the field for the 1961 season. The team competes in the National Football Conference North division. During the 1960s, the Vikings' record was typical for an expansion franchise, but improved over the course of the decade, resulting in a Central Division title in 1968. In 1969, their dominant defense led to the Vikings' league championship in 1969, the last NFL championship prior to the merger of the NFL with the AFL. The team plays its home games at U.S. Bank Stadium in the Downtown East section of Minneapolis.