It is not yet clear whether Frankfurt will host a regular season game of the American professional football league NFL for the first time in 2023 or in 2024.

But the joy of the commitment that the NFL officially announced on Wednesday evening European time in distant Los Angeles for two regular season games on German soil in the next four years is initially unanimous in the city.

Daniel Meuren

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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“American football was and is at home in Frankfurt.

That's why I'm very happy about the NFL's decision to come to Frankfurt on a regular basis.

It shows that we as a city have put a lot of effort and together with Eintracht Frankfurt and many supporters we have delivered a good overall concept," said City Councilor Mike Josef (SPD), who was significantly involved in the application as head of the sports department.

"It doesn't say too little when I claim that we have achieved something historic, since we have brought the largest football league in the world to the football city of Frankfurt.

This is where American football began in Germany in 1945 and this story is now being continued.” In fact, the first football game on German soil is said to have taken place on Frankfurt soil.

Contrary to what was initially assumed, the order for the NFL games in Germany after the start in Munich this fall, which had prevailed in the application process for the first games in Germany alongside Frankfurt against Düsseldorf, has not yet been firmly agreed.

The German Instagram account of the NFL already referred to a game in Frankfurt 2023 in a post, but that is obviously not yet certain.

"As a first step, we have made Munich fixed and we know we will play two in Munich and two in Frankfurt.

We haven't fixed the years after that yet, so let's focus on 2022 for now," said the first Germany boss of the National Football League, Alexander Steinforth.

"In the course of the year and when the game is played, we will of course speak closely with Munich and Frankfurt and see

Such a game will definitely take place in October or November, since the NFL will no longer assign teams to foreign assignments in the decisive phase of the season from December.

The wildcard and playoff games in January, which are played in the knockout system, are beyond any discussion anyway, as is the Super Bowl, which will be played in Los Angeles next Sunday this year.

The international breaks in football are probably particularly relevant, since the preparations for the event and the necessary conversion work on the pitch will not conflict with a Eintracht home game.

After Roland Frischkorn for the Frankfurt sports district had already described the major event as a "great opportunity for sports for children and young people" on Wednesday, political factions from the city council also joined in the jubilant chorus.

"The NFL games at the football location in Frankfurt will also give a big boost to the youth work of the clubs in the region," said Natascha Kauder, sports policy spokeswoman for the Greens faction.

And for the largest opposition party in the city parliament, Caroline Friedrich described Frankfurt as the "home of American football in Europe, because it was played here in 1945 and the first American football club outside the USA was founded in 1977 with the 'Löwen'."

The Frankfurt SPD member of parliament Kaweh Mansoori sees the guest performance as "a great enrichment for us as a sports city and international metropolis".

Fan festivals and broadcasts across the city would get people excited about football.

“At the same time, Frankfurt's hotels and restaurants will benefit.

The NFL games will certainly give football a boost in Frankfurt and Germany.

Hopefully, amateur sport will also win and the range of sports in Frankfurt will become even more attractive,” said Mansoori.

Profiteer Eintracht Frankfurt

Meanwhile, Eintracht Frankfurt and above all their stadium company as landlords should also benefit from the guest performance.

It generates additional income that can be used for the forthcoming planned expansion measures.

“We are very pleased that the NFL has chosen to play games at our stadium.

Welcome to Frankfurt, welcome to the heart of Europe,” said Patrick Meyer, Managing Director of Eintracht Stadion.

Eintracht board member Axel Hellmann, who would probably have to explain himself to the fans of his club if his footballers played a similar game abroad, was also pleased.

“We are absolutely thrilled and very proud that the NFL has decided to play two games in Frankfurt in the next four years.

Here with us, at Eintracht Frankfurt,

in the heart of Europe.

We're really looking forward to it," Hellmann said in a press release.

Meanwhile, Brett Gosper, the NFL's European boss, clearly formulated the goals of the NFL: "We look forward to the partnerships with Munich and Frankfurt, which will go beyond the games and will help us to achieve accelerated growth of our sport in Germany.

The strong interest we've generated underscores what fantastic opportunities regular-season games can be for a host."