The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami, Florida Metropolitan Area. The Dolphins are members of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins began play in the American Football League as an expansion team in 1966, they were founded by Joseph Robbie, and joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger. The Dolphins are the oldest major-league professional sports franchise in the state of Florida.