Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany, has been awarded an NFL Europe League team, it was announced today.
Introducing the Hamburg Sea Devils as the league’s newest franchise, NFL Europe Managing Director Jim Connelly said: ‘We believe that placing a team in Hamburg gives us a great opportunity to build our league and improve our business.
‘The city offers a magnificent stadium in which to play and a tradition of American football. During our many meetings there, we have discovered a great enthusiasm and appetite for the NFLEL. We believe we can convert that into the kind of local partnerships and investment that will give us an excellent chance of achieving long-term success.’
The Sea Devils will play in the 55,000-capacity AOL Arena, home of the Hamburger SV soccer team. Other details, including team logo, coaching staff and management team will be announced in the near future.
Hamburg, which is 120 kilometres inland on the River Elbe, is Germany’s principal seaport and is considered the country’s ‘Gateway to the World’. It is Germany’s second largest industrial centre with a population of 2.8 million.
The city is home to one of the most successful German domestic teams of the past decade, the Hamburg Blue Devils, and Connelly said that the NFLEL would be working closely with the club.
‘We will have a cooperative agreement with the Blue Devils within the framework of our strategic partnership with the American Football Verbund Deutschland. We will work with them to identify joint opportunities for us to grow the sport in the city and in Germany.’
KARSTEN STEFFENS, General Manager of the Hamburg Blue Devils marketing company, added: ‘We look forward to working closely with Hamburg’s new NFLEL team and to exploring the opportunities that will exist for both teams to build the sport of American football. We fully endorse the arrival of the NFLEL in Hamburg and we at the Blue Devils will be among the biggest supporters of the new team.’
The new team will become the ninth European franchise to play in the 13-season history of the league, while Hamburg will become the 13th European city to stage NFLEL action.
Fans in Hamburg will now be invited to play a part in selecting the Sea Devils’ logo in conjunction with the Bild Zeitung, Europe’s best-selling newspaper.
The 2004 season will be contested by the Amsterdam Admirals, World Bowl champions Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions, Frankfurt Galaxy, Hamburg Sea Devils and Rhein Fire and will kick off on the weekend on April 2-3. The full playing schedule will be announced in the near future.
For more details contact:
David Tossell
Director of Public Relations
NFL Europe
44-207-225-3070