NFL Details International Games, Growth, Logistics In Germany, Mexico, U.K.
Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at 08:48PM By Barry Janoff
February 9, 2022: In a move designed to expand its presence outside North America, the NFL confirmed today it would play the first regular-season game in NFL history in Germany as one of five international games overseen by the league in 2022.
There also is scheduled to be one in Mexico and three in the U.K. — two in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and a Jacksonville Jaguars home game in Wembley Stadium.
Remaining home teams for international games will be named in the coming weeks, with dates and match-ups to be confirmed in conjunction with the 2022 NFL schedule release later this year.
In December, as part of its International Home Marketing Areas initiative, the NFL said the Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers had been granted access to Germany for marketing, fan engagement and commercialization.
The NFL said that following a competitive application process, FC Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena, the home of the Bundesliga champions, was selected as the venue for two of the four International Series games to be played in Germany over the next four years.
Frankfurt Stadium will also host two games.
"We are very pleased to welcome Munich and Frankfurt to the NFL family and are excited to reward our fans in Germany for their passion by bringing them the spectacle of regular-season NFL football," commissioner Roger Goodell said during a media conference outside of SoFi Stadium, home for Super Bowl LIV.
“We look forward to staging our first game in Germany at FC Bayern Munich's fantastic stadium later this year and to exploring areas of broader collaboration with the Bundesliga."
The NFL said Germany is a “leading market outside North America for NFL Shop sales, fantasy football participation and sales of the Madden NFL video game.”
The NFL said it “has enjoyed a number of strong years of fan growth in Germany,” where it said it now has 19 million fans.
“Weekly NFL television viewership on partners ProSieben and DAZN has grown by more than 20% annually since 2017, and millions of fans tuned in for Super Bowl LV last February, making it the third consecutive season of record German Super Bowl viewership.”
A new survey by AFG Videoforschung found that American football has become the second-most popular television sport in Germany, with one in three people having watched in the past year, according to the NFL.
The NFL has played international games every season since 2007 except for 2020, when games were canceled due to the COVID-19 situation.
The league played two games in the U.K. this past season, the Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Miami Dolphins.
All teams except Green Bay Packers have participated in at least one International Series game.
"We have been collaborating with the NFL since 2014 when we opened our U.S. office," Oliver Kahn, CEO of FC Bayern Munich, said via the NFL.
"Our ambition was to reach and engage fans in each other's respective home countries. We are delighted to take this next step in our long-term partnership to host a regular-season NFL game at our home stadium."
According to the league, “The staging of regular-season games is part of the NFL's growing commitment to Germany.”
The league has recently appointed Alexander Steinforth as its dedicated general manager for the territory and is “committed to establishing a permanent headquarters in the country.”
It has also committed to investing in grassroots and community programs in Germany.
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