Munich contending with Dusseldorf and Frankfurt to become the NFL's hosting partner city in Germany and home of Bayern has been cleared to lead Munich's efforts to bring regular-season games to Bavaria
Wednesday 15 December 2021 16:32, UK
Munich's city council has given its backing to a bid to host regular-season NFL games at the Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich.
Three German cities are vying to become the NFL's partner - Munich, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf - and host a regular-season game, possibly as soon as next year with four other cities dropping out.
Munich city authorities said the council supported the bid to hold games from 2022-25 using the Allianz, the 75,000-capacity stadium owned by six-time European champions Bayern.
Munich has another stadium, built for the 1972 Olympics, which could meet NFL capacity requirements, but the city said it cannot be used for a bid because of an upcoming renovation.
Local authorities said hosting an NFL game would have an estimated economic impact of £27m from visitors to the city, based on data from NFL games in London, with about £470,000 in revenue predicted for the city budget. There are also plans to promote football in local schools.
The NFL is eager to expand into Germany because the country has one of the largest TV audiences for football outside the United States, and to build on the popularity of its games in London.
Brett Gosper, the NFL's Head of Europe and UK, said in October that the decisions on a German city and date for a game are expected to be announced at the Super Bowl in February.
NFL owners must also give their final approval of the choice of city.
