Topline
The NFL will broaden its reach across Europe next year by playing its first ever regular season football game in Berlin, adding Germany’s capital city to a list of the nation’s hosts that already includes Munich and Frankfurt as the league tries to broaden its international audience.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins played in Frankfurt, Germany on Nov. 5, 2023.
Key Facts
Olympic Stadium in Berlin will host the city’s first regular season NFL game in 2025 as part of a “multiyear commitment to playing games in the sports metropolis,” the NFL said Wednesday.
The league will also work with the local government in Berlin to develop flag football talent ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles—where the sport will be included in the international competition for the first time.
The announcement of a Berlin game comes as the NFL has continued to vet potential international destinations for an expansion of overseas games and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the league is looking to play up to eight games outside of the U.S. next year.
The NFL expects to return to Mexico City, Brazil and England in 2025, Goodell said, in addition to games in Berlin and Madrid for the first time, and a possible matchup in Ireland.
Dublin’s Aviva Stadium could be a potential site for a 2025 game, as could Croke Park (the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears played a preseason game there in 1997).
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Surprising Fact
This isn’t the first time Olympic Stadium in Berlin will host an NFL game, but it is the first time it will host a coveted regular season matchup. A preseason game was held there 34 years ago, and the NFL played five American Bowl games at the Olympic Stadium between 1990 and 1994.
Big Number
20 million. That’s how many NFL fans there are in Germany, according to Goodell.
Key Background
The NFL has said it plans to raise its revenue to $25 billion — 35% higher than what it made in 2022 — by 2027, despite flattening ticket sales in the U.S. and maxed-out television revenue stateside. The NFL has gone all in on expansions, games and marketing opportunities to push the league past its American market saturation. The league played five international games in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, with plans to increase the number to eight next year. The NFL also launched the International Home Marketing Areas initiative in 2022 to give 19 teams the ability to sell merchandise, accept sponsorships and host in-person events in 25 different countries—including Mexico, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada and Austria. League executive vice president Peter O’Reilly last year said the NFL could someday play games as far away as Australia, which has a 14-hour time difference from the East Coast and is 17 hours ahead of the West Coast.
Further Reading
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