Berlin’s Olympiastadion will host its first NFL regular season game in 2025.
In a news conference in the German capital on Wednesday, the league confirmed that the city would stage one of the eight overseas games scheduled for next year and that it had signed what a news release described as a “multi-year agreement” with the NFL.
“We have committed to Germany for another five years until 2029 and will host at least one game per season. Within this cycle there will be up to three games in Berlin,” Alexander Steinforth, the GM of NFL Germany, said.
Berlin previously hosted five preseason games during the 1990s. Now, it has become the third German venue for the NFL. The country has already hosted four games, two in Frankfurt and two in Munich.
The first took place in November 2022, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21-16 at Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich. Most recently, the same stadium saw the Carolina Panthers defeat the New York Giants 20-17.
Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park hosted games between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins in 2023, and Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots in 2024.
Reacting to the decision to stage games in Berlin — which was approved by a vote among NFL owners — commissioner Roger Goodell said, “Germany has a rich tradition in American football and the NFL has a long history with the city of Berlin.
“We first played a preseason game at the Olympiastadion 34 years ago, before it became the home of the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe in the early 2000s. Now, with nearly 20 million NFL fans in Germany, we are returning to the city in historic fashion and playing a regular season game for the first time to begin the next chapter in our relationship with Berlin.”
Iris Spranger, senator for the interior and sport of the state of Berlin, added: “Our long-term collaboration with the NFL should not only excite fans in the Olympic Stadium, but also gives the sports metropolis of Berlin a boost. For Berlin, this means worldwide visibility, numerous international guests, long-term spurs for tourism and a big economic boost.”
The NFL will have eight international games in 2025. League executive Peter O’Reilly said Australia, which doesn’t officially have a game yet, is a location that is in the works.
Required reading
- Adolf Hitler, Jesse Owens and Berlin’s Olympiastadion: the complicated history of Euro 2024 final venue
- NFL’s Roger Goodell envisions 16 international games if league expands to 18-game season
- What the NFL considers when choosing international game stadiums and teams
(Photo: Sven Hoppe / picture alliance via Getty Images)
