The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise located in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins are a member of the East division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins play their home games at Sun Life Stadium in the northern suburb of Miami Gardens, and have their headquarters in Davie, Florida. The Dolphins and the Atlanta Falcons (who also began play in 1966) are the oldest NFL franchises in the Deep South, and Miami is the oldest AFC team in that region. However, of the four AFC East teams, they are the only team in the division that was not a charter member of the AFL.