While London has stood as the consistent international outpost for the NFL across the Atlantic dating to 2007, the league is looking to stretch the game into Europe's mainland in the near future. Earlier this offseason, the NFL was reportedly gauging interest from a number of potential host cities in Germany and several have come back quite interested.
According to Sky Sports, seven German cities have expressed interest in becoming a partner with the league. The NFL is also working with London-based The Sports Consultancy and is aiming to play host to games in Germany beginning in 2022 and running through the 2025 season. Sky Sports adds that the NFL is expected to receive robust proposals at the start of September, which will allow the league time to review and identify a preferred partner by early 2022.
The seven German cities were not revealed by The Sports Consultancy, but Munich's Department for Education and Sport did confirm to Sky Sports that it's in "initial talks" with the NFL about playing host to a game. Munich is home to Allianz Arena, which is the second-largest stadium in Germany with a capacity of 75,000.
"We are currently waiting for more information from the NFL regarding the requirements to be met for implementation in Munich," spokesperson Thomas Gross told Sky Sports. "A final application can generally only be made after approval by the city council. As soon as the LHM has the outstanding information, it will be examined and submitted to the city council for decision."
One city that is not in the running to play host at the moment is the country's capital city of Berlin. The city's Senate Department for Home Affairs and Sport noted that they're unable to form a pitch due to a sports promotion law. That said, as spokesperson did say note that "Berlin is always interested in hosting high-profile sporting events." Meanwhile, Hamburg is another potential host city for the NFL, but there is some concern that the turnaround time to deliver a pitch is too short.
Germany played host to five NFL preseason games from 1990 to 1994 and had five teams as a member of NFL Europe before the league disbanded in 2007, so there is plenty of history to point to why the league has chosen this country as its next European frontier.
