Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
Current season
Logo	Wordmark
	Uniforms
General information
Founded	June 30, 1965
Inaugural season	1966
Stadium	Mercedes-Benz Stadium,; Atlanta, Georgia
Headquartered	Flowery Branch, Georgia
Colors	Black, red, silver, white;
Mascot	Freddie Falcon
Website	atlantafalcons.com
Personnel
Owner	Arthur Blank
CEO	Greg Beadles
General manager	Ian Cunningham
Head coach	Kevin Stefanski
President	Greg Beadles
Nicknames
	The Dirty Birds; Grits Blitz (1977 defense);
Team history
	Atlanta Falcons (1966–present);
Home fields
	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium (1966–1991); Georgia Dome (1992–2016); Mercedes-Benz Stadium (2017–present);
League / conference affiliations
	National Football League (1966–present) Eastern Conference (1966); Western Conference (1967–1969) Coastal Division (1967–1969); ; National Football Conference (1970–present) NFC West (1970–2001); NFC South (2002–present); ;
Championships
	Conference championships: 2; NFC: 1998, 2016;
	Division championships: 6; NFC West: 1980, 1998; NFC South: 2004, 2010, 2012, 2016;
Playoff appearances (14)
	NFL: 1978, 1980, 1982, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017;
Owners
	Rankin M. Smith Sr. (1965–1989); Taylor Smith (1989–2002); Arthur Blank (2002–present);

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The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons were founded on June 30, 1965, and joined the NFL in 1966 as an expansion team, after the NFL offered then-owner Rankin Smith a franchise to keep him from joining the rival American Football League (AFL).

In their 59 years of existence, the Falcons have compiled a record of 398–512–6 (398–512–6 in the regular season and 10–14 in the playoffs), winning division championships in 1980, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2012, and 2016. The Falcons have appeared in two Super Bowls, the first during the 1998 season in Super Bowl XXXIII, where they lost to the Denver Broncos 34–19, and the second 18 years later, a 34–28 overtime loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. They are the oldest major professional sports team in America with no championships.

The Falcons' current home field is Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened for the 2017 season; the team's headquarters and practice facilities are located at a 50-acre (20 ha) site in Flowery Branch, northeast of Atlanta in Hall County.