Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion team in 1960, and first took the field for the 1961 season. They currently participate in the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC); prior to that the Vikings were in the NFC Central Division, and before that they were in the NFL's Western Conference Central Division. The Vikings play their home games at the Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis as they have since 1982 (a bill was passed in May of 2012 to build a new stadium for the team, which is expected to open by the 2016 season). While the Vikings continue to play in the same building, the Metrodome has recently been renamed Mall of America Field. From the team's first season in 1961 to 1982, the team had called Metropolitan Stadium in suburban Bloomington home. Throughout the Vikings' history, they have had one of the highest winning percentages in the NFL. They are also one of only six NFL teams to win at least 15 games during the regular season. The Vikings have won one NFL championship, in 1969, prior to the league's merger with the American Football League (AFL). Since the merger, they have made the playoffs 24 times, third most in the league. Despite producing some of the best teams in NFL history over the years, the Vikings have not won a Super Bowl. The team has played in four Super Bowls (IV, VIII, IX, and XI), though losing in each one.