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NFL Makes Good On Its Promise to Return to Munich in 2024

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The NFL, the most prestigious American football organisation on the planet, has strengthened its ties with Europe by announcing it will play games on the continent in 2024.

Munich’s Allianz Arena will be on hosting duties for one regular season game later this year, while London will welcome three matches at Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

League chiefs have also hinted at further European expansion in the future, with Madrid and Paris touted as possible hosts as well.

European Tour

It’s not yet known which teams will be making the trip across the Atlantic, but the last time that the Allianz Arena welcomed a game it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – who are into the 2024 play-offs and an 80/1 outsider for the Super Bowl in the NFL betting – that took on the Seattle Seahawks.

And back in November when Frankfurt made its debut as an NFL host, the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins – two prominent teams in the Super Bowl 2024 odds at 10/1 and 16/1 respectively – locked horns at the Frankfurt Stadium.

That contest, as well as the clash between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots a week later, were both sell-outs at the Frankfurt Stadium, with more than 100,000 people in total heading to the venue to take in an alternative version of the football the country is typically known for.

And the reviews were rather positive too, with one Colts reporter describing the ambience inside the ground as ‘one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever experienced.’

German sports fans are particularly renowned for being rather loud and vibrant at football games, while their astonishing visual displays – known as ‘tifos’ – no doubt also caught the eye of NFL chiefs when they were considering their international expansion.

It’s interesting too that when the NFL revealed their official ‘watch parties’ for the 2023 Super Bowl, France featured alongside Brazil and Canada, while other meet-ups in Germany and Spain reiterated the appetite for American football on European soil.

New Year, New Hosts

As part of their International Series, the NFL has committed to returning to Germany in 2025 too.

But that appears to be just the tip of the iceberg of their expansion plans, with the NFL confirming that the International Series will be increased to eight fixtures next year.

Sao Paulo may replicate their hosting duties of 2024, while the Jacksonville Jaguars’ agreement with the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will see them head to London once again. Either Frankfurt or Munich will surely also be in the reckoning.

But there’s a possibility that the NFL will explore new horizons in Europe. Peter O’Reilly, an NFL executive, confirmed that Spain is very much on the radar for 2025 – ‘pending having the opportunity to play in Madrid and Brazil in the future, we would be excited to do that,’ he has previously commented.

After that, France could be next. The Parisian cinema Grand Rex will host an official, NFL-endorsed watch party for Super Bowl LVIII in February, with the city likely to be next on the organisation’s plans for breaking new ground with their International Series.

For American football fans in Europe, the outlook continues to be incredibly promising.

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