IRVING, Texas (AP) — The NFL will play its first regular-season game in Berlin in 2025, the league's fifth game ever in Germany.
The game will be played at the Olympic Stadium as part of a multiyear commitment announced Wednesday at the league's winter meetings. The NFL has played regular-season games in Munich and Frankfurt since 2022.
“Germany has a rich tradition of American football, and the NFL has a deep history with the city of Berlin,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “We first held a preseason game at the Olympic Stadium 34 years ago, before it was home to NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder in the early 2000s. Now, with almost 20 million NFL fans in Germany, we’ll make a historic return to the city playing a regular-season game for the first time as we open the next chapter in our relationship with Berlin.”
The NFL played five American Bowl games at the Olympic Stadium between 1990-1994. League executive Peter O’Reilly said the league's goal is to play eight international regular-season games in 2025 and an annual game in Germany is expected. The NFL already has committed to playing two regular-season games in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one game in Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home to Real Madrid.
“Germany is obviously a major priority market for us,” O'Reilly said. “Twenty million fans and growing in Germany. We’ve seen the passion, you’ve seen the passion, you’ve seen the singing. It’s an important market. And this partnership with Berlin is not just about the game itself. Like every market we go into, it’s about a year-round partnership. It’s about working with the city and the community on building flag football into schools and into clubs in that city, and that’s important for sure. So we’re excited about our plans.”
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Rob Maaddi, The Associated Press
