As part of its global expansion goals, the NFL has announced it will play games in Germany over the next four years, with both Munich and Frankfurt to host two games each over the four years.
The move follows the NFL’s growing presence in Germany, with the league recently ranking as the country’s second most popular TV sport behind football and the NFL revealing plans to open a new headquarters in Germany following the appointment of its first dedicated general manager for Germany, Alexander Steinforth.
The NFL’s latest estimates suggest it has more than 19 million fans in Germany, with the number growing as the past three years have all recorded new broadcast records for the NFL Super Bowl in Germany.
Throughout the 2022 NFL season, the league will play five international games, with three to be played in the UK, one in Mexico, and now one in Germany.
NFL head of Europe, Brett Gosper, said: “We are looking forward to partnerships with Munich and Frankfurt that will extend beyond the games and help us to deliver accelerated growth in Germany.”
“The strong interest we received underlined what a fantastic opportunity regular-season games offer for a host, ranging from significant economic benefits and global exposure to the chance to become a hub for the growth of the NFL’s fan engagement, community and grassroots activities,” Gosper said.
Elsewhere, Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, has confirmed the US-based media company is aiming to secure the out-of-market domestic broadcast package for the NFL’s Sunday Ticket.
CNBC reported the rights could be worth up to US$2.5 billion per year, with Amazon and Apple likely to compete with the Disney-owned ESPN for the rights.
The current fee for the rights, which are held by US media company, DirecTV, are worth US$1.5 billion per year.
The pursuit of Sunday Ticket by Disney was confirmed after Disney revealed it brought in US$21.8 billion in the fiscal quarter ending 1 January, with ESPN+ reaching 21.3 million subscribers and Disney+ reaching 129.8 million subscribers.
Across its linear media networks, Disney drew in US$7.7 billion in revenue, suggesting the US$2.5 billion per year expected price tag of the Sunday Ticket may not be out of reach for Disney to further boost its ESPN+ streaming service.
