LAS COLINAS, Texas – The NFL has announced its latest expansion in Germany.
After recent league games in Munich and Frankfurt, the NFL will host a regular season game in Berlin for the first time in 2025.
The move reflects the game’s continued international expansion, as the league reaches new cities and increases the size of its international inventory.
“We first held a preseason game at Olympic Stadium 34 years ago, before it was home to NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder in the early 2000s,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement Wednesday morning. “Now, with nearly 20 million NFL fans in Germany, we will make a historic return to the city by playing a regular season game for the first time as we open the next chapter in our relationship with Berlin.”
The NFL will play its first-ever regular season game in Berlin in 2025. Madrid will also host a match for the first time.
The international slate continues to grow after approval for the expansion was approved last year. pic.twitter.com/ck74hjHOwV
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) December 11, 2024
The NFL efforts to invest in flag football in Berlin will also continue.
In recent seasons, the NFL has played four international games in addition to the annual Jacksonville Jaguars game at Wembley Stadium in London. The league approved a resolution in December 2023 allowing match schedule makers to expand the international playing field from four to a maximum of eight matches from 2025.
The expectation was that the stock increase would take place gradually. There could be only five matches in addition to the match at Wembley in 2025. As of Tuesday, someone with knowledge of the schedule expected the stock to continue growing as early as 2025.
The NFL will also play its first regular season game in Madrid at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in 2025.
So far, the NFL’s announced 2025 international schedule will include games in Berlin, Madrid and London. London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will host two matches in 2025.
