United States: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has an answer for German fans wondering about rumors the league could be heading to their capital city of Berlin: “Believe it.”
Berlin Shows Interest in Hosting an NFL Game
The NFL scheduled its first regular season in Germany in Munich in 2022 and two in Frankfurt in 2023. This Sunday, Munich is receiving the New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers in the last five games to be played overseas this season, as reported by Associated Press.
“I usually tell people, ‘Don’t believe rumors.’ In this case, I might say, ‘Believe it.’ We’re working on it, but it isn’t finalized. We really feel like Berlin would be a great addition, so we’re looking very hard at that. Our people have been working very hard at it,” Goodell said in a Q-and-A session with fans in Munich. “But I want to add that does not mean we’re not going to be back in Frankfurt and Munich.”
Both German news agency DPA and broadcaster RTL said Saturday that the Berlin city government is talking about a game.
Berlin was among the German cities that did not submit a bid to host regular-season games at first. The three chosen in the process last year are Frankfurt, Munich, and Duesseldorf, none of which hosted any match.
A Personal Connection to Berlin for Goodell
It would appear that Berlin has a special meaning for Goodell from a personal perspective. He said that he played in the first NFL experiment game in Germany in 1990, the year after the Berlin Wall came down, in Berlin’s Olympiastadion or Olympic Stadium, with the Los Angeles Rams playing the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It was one of my favorite events,” Goodell said. “The German fans were just fantastic and overwhelming.”
Global Expansion
In December, NFL team owners approved exercising the league’s option to play eight games annually in other countries; Goodell has stated, however, that he has a vision of 16 games annually, as reported by Associated Press.
The league had one game in Brazil this season and will be going to Spain for the first time next year with a game in Madrid. Originally, London was supposed to host three games this season.