Berlin, Germany – The NFL will keep hosting games in Germany until 2029 and next year the league will stage a regular season match in Berlin, it said on Wednesday.
“We have committed to Germany for another five years until 2029 and will host at least one match per season. Within this cycle, there will be up to three matches in Berlin,” NFL Germany boss Alexander Steinforth told dpa.
The 2025 game will be played at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The NFL has been hosting matches in Germany since 2022, with two games in Munich and two in Frankfurt.
This will be the first regular season match in the German capital. Previously, Berlin had only welcomed pre-season matches.
“Germany has a rich tradition of American football, and the NFL has a deep history with the city of Berlin,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
“We first held a preseason game at the Olympic Stadium 34 years ago, before it was home to NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder in the early 2000s. Now, with almost 20 million NFL fans in Germany, we’ll make a historic return to the city playing a regular season game for the first time as we open the next chapter in our relationship with Berlin.”
Berlin is investing €12.5 million ($13.13 million) in the event. The investment is intended to provide a lasting boost for tourism through the many visitors.
Steinforth added that the initial plan is to host at least one game per year in Germany “and we’re fighting for more.”
Teams playing in Berlin next year as well as the date and ticket prices are yet to be announced.
Currently, 10 teams have international marketing rights in Germany: Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs.
The Buccaneers, then led by star quarterback Tom Brady, played the first-ever regular season game in Germany against the Seahawks in 2022.
In 2023, Frankfurt welcomed Miami Dolphins v Chiefs and Colts v Patriots. This year, the Panthers hosted the Giants in Munich.
Beginning in 2025, the NFL can schedule up to eight international regular season games per season. A commitment to playing two regular season games in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one game in Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu have already been announced for 2025.
(dpa)
