The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league's American Football Conference North division. The club's home games are held in downtown Cincinnati at Paycor Stadium. Former Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown began planning for the creation of the Bengals franchise in 1965, and Cincinnati's city council approved the construction of Riverfront Stadium in 1966. Finally, in 1967, the Bengals were founded when a group headed by Brown received franchise approval by the American Football League on May 23, 1967, and they began play in the 1968 season. Brown was the Bengals' head coach from their inception to. After being dismissed as the Browns' head coach by Art Modell in January Brown had shown interest in establishing another NFL franchise in Ohio and looked at both Cincinnati and Columbus. He ultimately chose the former when a deal between the c...