The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders began play in the American Football League (AFL) in 1960 and joined the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger of 1970.

The Raiders were formed in 1960, taking a spot in the newly desinged AFL that had been vacated when the owners of the as-yet unnamed Minneapolis-Saint Paul franchise reneged on its agreement with the AFL and joined the NFL as the Minnesota Vikings. The city of Oakland took Minneapolis-Saint Paul's place in the league and inherited their inaugural draft selections, and the Raiders began play in the 1960 American Football League season. The team relocated to Los Angeles for thirteen seasons, 1982 to 1994. They returned to Oakland in 1995.

During their first three seasons, the Raiders struggled both on and off the field. In 1963, Al Davis was brought to the team as head coach and general manager, and from 1963 until 2002 the team had only seven losing seasons. As members of the AFL they won one league championship (1967), three division titles (1967, 1968, 1969), and appeared in one Super Bowl (II). Since joining the NFL when the leagues merged in 1970, the Raiders have won twelve division titles, three Super Bowls (XI, XV, XVIII), and one other conference title (winning the AFC before losing in Super Bowl XXXVII). Thirteen former players have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.