The Minnesota Vikings are a professional National Football League (NFL) team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They belong to the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC). They currently play their home games in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. Originally, the ownership group was to have a team in the American Football League, but withdrew from the AFL and agreed to join the NFL as a 1961 expansion team. The Minnesota Vikings were the 14th franchise and began play on September 17, 1961.