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By Marisa Braverman and Hunter Murphy
The NFL has been looking beyond the U.S. to expand its global audience in recent years. The league has found a secret weapon for engaging fans abroad: social media. With two games in Frankfurt, Germany, this season, including one scheduled for this weekend, the NFL has relied heavily on social media to ensure their success.
The History of the NFL Internationally
The history of the NFL in Germany goes much further back than the invention of social media. In fact, American soldiers introduced American Football to Germany in the 1970s, and the NFL had its true first launch in the country in 1990 when the league hosted a preseason game between the Chiefs and Rams in West Berlin.
With 55,000 people in attendance, this game was the turning point of the NFL in Germany.
From 1991 to 2007, the NFL ran a Europe-based league in multiple countries. NFL Europe teams were in Germany, England, Spain, the Netherlands, and Scotland. The league went through several re-formats and rebranding, but it was canceled in 2007 with a reported loss of $400 million.
Fast forward to last year, and the NFL hosted its first regular season match in Germany when Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the Seattle Seahawks in Munich.
🇩🇪 TODAY 🇩🇪@Seahawks vs. @Buccaneers from Munich!
⏰| 9:30a ET
📍| Allianz Arena
📺| @nflnetwork + KIRO (Seattle) & WFTS (Tampa)
📱| @NFL+
🎙️| @richeisen @kurt13warner @michaelirvin88 @SteveMariucci @Sara_Walsh @JamieErdahl pic.twitter.com/IzxEJZqqTH— NFL Media (@NFLMedia) November 13, 2022
The 21-16 Tampa Bay Buccaneers victory was a huge success for the NFL. The Sports Consultancy reported, “the game brought in 70.2 million euros for the city and a global audience of 8.2 million watched the game.”
Following this success, the NFL chose to host a second international game in Germany this year after Mexico City declined because of construction at Estadio Azteca to prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park hosted both 2023 German games. First, the Miami Dolphins lost to the Kansas City Chiefs this past Sunday, Nov. 5, 21-14. Then, the New England Patriots are facing the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday, Nov. 12.
NFL’s Social Media Coverage
The NFL has become heavily involved in the social media landscape, like many other sports organizations. The NFL’s Instagram account boasts over 28.6 million followers. Whether this includes posts about Taylor Swift, Gameday highlights, or fan and player interactions, the league is constantly active. Even during the offseason, they post every day.
Social media allow the NFL to reach a wider audience. As Germany is a target market for the league, they created a separate verified account for the country. “NFL Deutschland” caters to the German audience, creating posts in German and using easier terminology to reach non-initiated fans.
The NFL Deutschland Instagram posts lately have focused on the Kansas City Chiefs being the reigning Superbowl champions.
Jan Ehrhardt is the U.S. sports writer for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany’s leading newspapers. He emphasized the importance the NFL in Germany is taking but highlighted the need to create content that is not too heavily focused on football terminology and plays.
“I have to write about it in a way that everyone gets it,” Ehrhardt said.
Though the NFL in Germany does have extreme fans who study the game, the league is first attempting to create a local NFL community. So, they use social media—and local media outlets—to explain the sport in a way that everyone can understand. To gain new fans, they must make football easier to understand.
Anticipation on Social Media of the Dolphins vs. Chiefs Game
The league can also count on teams’ communication. The Dolphins and the Chiefs used their personal social media accounts to market their Nov. 5 game. Both teams boast a large following on Instagram with the Kansas City Chiefs at over 3 million followers and the Miami Dolphins at over 1.6 million followers.
The Chiefs used their ChampionShip boat that they docked in the Main River in Frankfurt, Germany, to create buzz for the game. The boat held numerous events throughout the week for which fans could purchase tickets.
The boat appeared regularly on the Chiefs’ social media accounts to further promote and excite German fans. As one of the best-ranked teams in the NFL, the Chiefs capitalized on their success to create even more excitement for the game abroad.
As for the Miami Dolphins, their social media feed focused on their involvement in the German community.
They posted various clips on their Instagram highlighting a flag football event they held with the children of Frankfurt. The videos marketed the teams and the NFL’s desire to create more excitement for American football, including for younger generations abroad.
NFL Gameday: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Miami Dolphins
Frankfurt will have its second NFL game day this Sunday. Last weekend, the atmosphere was exhilarating as fans traveled from all over the world to watch the Super Bowl champs and the then-6-2 Dolphins.
David who declined to provide his last name traveled to Frankfurt for the game from his hometown of Coswig, Germany. The Kansas City self-described super fan said the NFL was his passion.
“In Germany, there are a lot of people who love the NFL, and the community in the last few years has gotten bigger, bigger, bigger,” David said, adding he was thrilled that his favorite league continues to grow in his home country.
David also is a part of the German Kansas City Chief fan club called German Arrowheads and conveyed how important social media are for them to stay involved in the football community.
“Most people in the club follow the Kansas City Chiefs, NFL, NFL network, and we have a group chat that people send posts in,” he said.
With the time difference between Germany and the US (six hours with the East Coast, nine with the West Coast), David said social media is sometimes the only way he can watch game clips.
On Sunday in Frankfurt, fans were regularly invited to show their spirit through QR advertisements on the stadium’s screens. After scanning the QR code, fans had the opportunity to send in screenshots of themselves to appear on the screens. The use of QR codes and various hashtags on social media engaged fans throughout the game.
What’s to Come in Germany for the NFL
In terms of viewership, the Chiefs-Dolphins game was a huge success with over 9.6 million viewers, which is a 66% increase from last year’s Munich game.
Now, NFL fans in Frankfurt turn to another AFC matchup this Sunday. The Indianapolis Colts will act as the away team and the New England Patriots will be the home team.
Banners throughout Frankfurt, Germany advertised both NFL games played in the city.
No stranger to international games, the New England Patriots will play their fourth game abroad. Through their international games and Tom Brady’s past success with the team, they have created a strong fan base abroad. The team continues to actively focus on expanding in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
However, fans have not been anticipating this upcoming game as much as last week’s considering the respective teams’ win-loss records this season. So, the Pats-Colts matchup may not enjoy the same success as the Dolphins-Chiefs game.
No matter what happens this weekend, there is certainly a market in Frankfurt, Germany, for NFL football. Every game in Germany thus far has been a huge success, and there is hope for games in the country to be a part of every NFL season.
