American football’s elite NFL will return to the German city of Munich for international games in both 2026 and 2028 through a partnership with the local council and soccer giants, FC Bayern Munich.
Once again, Bayern Munich’s 75,000-capacity Allianz Arena will host the regular season fixtures, which will each come as part of the league’s annual international slate.
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The NFL has hosted an annual fixture in Germany since 2022, with the Allianz Arena hosting two previous games – the first in 2022 and a second in 2024.
With this new agreement confirmed, the NFL will collaborate with the city of Munich on community-centric activations surrounding the league’s flag football growth efforts.
Alexander Steinforth, the NFL’s general manager for the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) market, commented: “Germany is of huge strategic importance for the NFL in Europe, and our return to Munich signals the league’s long-term commitment to playing games in the market.”
“As the first host of regular season games in Germany, Munich holds a very special place in the hearts of our fans, and we look forward to continuing to create memorable experiences for them while building a year-round NFL presence across this city and country.”
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By GlobalDataFor Bayern’s part, the continued placement of NFL games at the club’s stadium serves as a continued validation of the arena’s hosting capabilities (it also staged the UEFA Champions League final of soccer in 2025).
Alianz Arena GmbH managing director, Jurgen Muth, said: “The FC Bayern Munich stadium will be hosting the NFL in Germany for the third time – this shows that we can also offer American football a home.”
“Our stadium has established itself on the world map of sports with its modern infrastructure, unique atmosphere, and the enthusiasm of Munich fans. Over the years, the NFL at the Alianz Arena has evolved into a significant attraction, drawing crowds from both Germany and around the world. These games are examples of the global enthusiasm for the sport and collaboration between Munich and the NFL."
In 2027 and 2029, the NFL has already agreed to stage games in Germany in Berlin, where it hosted its 2025 game at the city’s Olympic Stadium.
With Munich added, Germany becomes the fourth international destination confirmed for the NFL’s 2026 campaign.
The league has already confirmed a two-game slate at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, one game at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s iconic Maracanã Stadium, and one at Melbourne, Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The NFL is engaged in a multi-year partnership with the German soccer’s DFL league organizer to help grow each other’s leagues in their respective markets.
Ahead of the 2025 NFL game in Berlin, the pair organized a roundtable attended by Sportcal (GlobalData Sport), where Bundesliga International chief executive Peer Naubert commented on the pair’s collaboration, saying: “The partnership has been amazing so far. We couldn't think of any better partner to jointly grow our brand and our business in each other's respective home markets.
“We have gained a lot of traction over the years regarding joint activities across a very broad area of measures. From hosting medical staff conferences together on preventing injuries, up to having people from the NFL Network speaking on our sports innovation, [and] doing joint marketing measures. Be it in the US, or be it here in Germany, having [NFL] clubs on site in the premises of our clubs and vice versa, up to even joint marketing and content activities.
“It's a very broad area of measures we have taken together, and we have learned a lot, and we have, I think, increased the measures from year over year.”
