The Denver Broncos are an American football team based in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The Broncos began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL as part of the merger in 1970. The Broncos are owned by the Pat Bowlen trust. The Broncos have played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High since 2001, after previously playing at Mile High Stadium from 1960 to 2000.
The Broncos were barely competitive during their 10-year run in the AFL and their first seven years in the NFL. They did not complete a winning season until 1973. Four years later, in 1977, they qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and advanced to Super Bowl XII. Since 1975, the Broncos have become one of the NFL's more successful teams, having suffered only six losing records in 40 seasons.[6] They have won eight AFC Championships, three Super Bowl championships, share the record for most Super Bowl appearances with the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers, and have four players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: John Elway, Floyd Little, Gary Zimmerman and Shannon Sharpe.