NFL announces first-ever regular season game in Berlin for 2025
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The game will debut at Berlin's historic 75,000-seat Olympic Stadium in Berlin as part of a multi-year commitment.
REUTERS
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BERLIN - The NFL will play its first-ever regular season game in Berlin in 2025, when the league debuts in the German capital.
The game will take place at the historic 75,000-seat Olympic Stadium as part of a “multiyear commitment.”
The NFL has held 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,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
“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.”
Olympic Stadium opened in 1936 and hosted the Summer Games that year, with American track star Jesse Owens winning four gold medals.
The venue has also hosted two FIFA World Cups (1974, 2006) and a FIFA Women’s World Cup (2011) and is the current home of the soccer club Hertha BSC.
The NFL played five American Bowl games there from 1990-94 and it was home to NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder from 2003-07.
“This long-term partnership with the NFL will continue to boost Berlin as a global sports metropolis, as well as excite fans at the Olympic Stadium,” said Ms Iris Spranger, Berlin’s senator for the interior and sports.
“The 2025 NFL Berlin game means worldwide visibility, numerous international guests, increased tourism and high economic value across the city. We’re looking forward to an incredible game and an ongoing successful partnership with the league, as we continue to strengthen the presence of American football throughout the state.”
The date and opponents for the game will be announced later.
As previously announced, the NFL will also hold two regular season games at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in 2025. The league can schedule up to eight international games, with other locations to be confirmed in the weeks ahead. AFP
