NFL
Why are the Colts playing the Patriots in Germany?
NFL crosses the Atlantic during the regular season as Frankfurt plays host to the teams from Indianapolis and New England.
This weekend sees more of the NFL International Series take place in Europe. The German city of Frankfurt has already hosted the Dolphins against the Chiefs and now it’s the turn of the New England Patriots to face off against the Indianapolis Colts. There’s not going to be a whole lotta time for sightseeing, and both sets of players and coaches have made it clear that this is business as usual for matchweek 10. But it has a different accent.
The NFL in Europe
Sunday’s game in Frankfurt will be the final of five games scheduled across European cities as part of this year’s International Series. London hosted the first three of those - the Falcons and the Jaguars at Wembley, while the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium was the venue selected for Ravens vs Titans and Jaguars vs Bills.
As mentioned, Frankfurt hosted the Chiefs’ 21-14 win over the Dolphins and now prepares for the Colts vs the Patriots, tickets for both games having sold out very, very quickly once they came onto the market. This is the second time that the NFL International Series has stopped off in Germany - last year, the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played in front of a sell-out crowd in Munich. Demand for tickets exceeded all expectations - so much so that organizers could have filled the 75,000-seater Allianz Arena several times over. The interest in NFL games in Germany prompted the league to organize a return this year.
Find out how you can follow Colts vs Patriots in Frankfurt
Promoting NFL games outside of the US
This is the 16th edition of the NFL International Series - an initiative to promote American Football around the world. The first regular season NFL game to be held outside North America, between the New York Giants and the Dolphins, was played in London at the new Wembley stadium in October 2007. Wembley continued to host one NFL game per season up until 2011.
In November 2021, the series branched out with Mexico hosting one regular season game. The Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders battled it out at the Azteca in the first NFL game to be played on Mexican soil. Since then, a further four games have taken place south of the border.
Last year, the league announced the International Home Marketing Areas (IHMA) initiative, in which 19 franchises were selected to freely market their team across eight countries. The Los Angeles Rams added New Zealand as their fourth IHMA (along with Australia, China and Mexico) and the Philadelphia Eagles were granted access to Australia, New Zealand and Ghana – the first NFL club to enter a market in Africa.
The NFL recently confirmed Spain (Madrid) and Brazil (Rio) are under review as potential hosts for games in 2024.