Patrick Mahomes won the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs. At the end of the year he will play with his team in Germany.Image: AP / Matt Slocum
analysis
When Sebastian Vollmer is asked about the song “Country Roads” by John Denver, he has to smile. But that has nothing to do with the fact that he has to think about his last visit to the Oktoberfest.
The 70s classic stands much more for one of the most important sports moments that the American Football League (NFL) has experienced in the recent past. And that in Germany of all places.
“It was the best atmosphere of a football game I’ve ever experienced,” says Vollmer, who has been in the Super Bowl three times, in an interview with watson about the afternoon at the end of October in Munich’s Allianz Arena. The player and football legend Tom Brady would have said something similar to him afterwards. “It was a really badass and immersive experience and just not typical of football,” recalls Vollmer.
Over 70,000 frenzied football fans sang along during an intermission in the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks. And they didn’t stop when the game was on again.
It was the first game of the regular NFL season that took place in Germany and should have made it clear to the bosses of the billionaire league how much potential there is in the German football market.
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NFL: American football is no longer a hype in Germany
Sebastian Vollmer does not want to see this current phase as hype. After all, hypes are always only temporary. Football in Germany has long since moved away from this status. And the NFL has recognized that.
“Germany has made a mark. It couldn’t have gone better for the Americans, the American fans, the NFL as a business and of course the players,” says Vollmer. Since the NFL is a business, it’s now about asserting yourself against your competitors.
American football competes against handball, ice hockey and basketball
Because American football is declaring war on the more traditional sports in Germany, such as handball, ice hockey and basketball. It’s about the place in the sun – behind the uncatchable football.
The audience’s support is definitely there. 70,000 fans were in Munich, and there were said to be three million ticket requests. The two games in autumn this year will again trigger an unbelievable rush of tickets.
But bringing the sport into the mainstream of society in the long term only works through school sport. Sebastian Vollmer, who is not only an ambassador for the New England Patriots but also for the NFL, is particularly committed to this.
After all, one thing in particular boosts the business even more: local players.
With Jakob Johnson, a native German is currently active in the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL. According to the NFL players’ union, his jersey was the twelfth best-selling jersey in Germany in October.
There are also two young stars, the St. Brown brothers Equanimeous (Green Bay) and Amon-Ra (Detroit Lions), whose mother is from Germany and who don’t neglect their German roots.
NFL expands flag football program in Germany
Therefore, so-called flag football is promoted in selected schools in Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt. The NFL supports the schools with equipment, educational materials and professional contacts and hopes that children will develop an enthusiasm for the low-contact version of the sport.
The distance to American children, some of whom start throwing a football at the age of three, cannot be made up in this way, but according to former NFL professional Vollmer it is at least a start.
As part of the Super Bowl week, the eight national champions in flag football from Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Mexico and Great Britain were invited to Las Vegas to compete against each other in a tournament.
In almost disembodied flag football, you stop your opponent by pulling out one of the two side straps in the waistband. Image: AP / John Locher
The NFL wants to continue to capitalize on the potential. This year alone, 120 additional schools in Germany were included in their program. With its own academy in London, the league has not only been trying to find German talent for its teams since 2019, but also wants to be a contact point for top European players.
NFL in Germany gets further boost from Patriots and Chiefs
“There are now many easier ways to apply or to take this path. But it’s still not easy,” explains Sebastian Vollmer. At the same time, he raves about the opportunity to work with top coaches from the USA in London.
Because in the end, according to the two-time Super Bowl winner, it would not just be enough to have German players in the league to get people excited about football in Germany in the long term. “You can only do that with sustainable youth work.”
This enthusiasm could get a further boost if the NFL plays two games in Germany this fall. “The enthusiasm for football will not decrease, only more. I can’t imagine how it can get any better. But that will also be something special again,” says Vollmer.
Especially since the New England Patriots, the team with the largest fan base in Germany, will play one game. And with the Kansas City Chiefs, even the reigning Super Bowl champion and league figurehead Patrick Mahomes is playing a home game in Germany.
When Patrick Mahomes appears in front of the television cameras in interviews, there is no indication that he is currently the most recognizable face in the NFL and one of the highest paid professional athletes in the world. He seems shy at times, even insecure at times. Instead of talking about himself, he prefers to talk about his teammates, his sponsors, the fans. A rarity in a professional athlete’s existence, which is otherwise designed for self-portrayal.
