Bucs in 1st regular-season game in Germany - 3 minutes read
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play in the NFL's first regular-season game to be held in Germany this year, the league announced Monday.
The game will be played at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The league was weighing three potential German host cities, including Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.
Germany will host another game in 2023 at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt. The league would then return to Munich in 2024 and Frankfurt in 2025.
"We look forward to participating in the first regular-season NFL game in Munich, Germany later this fall as part of the International Series," Buccaneers owner/co-chairman Joel Glazer said in a statement. "This historic game will play a crucial role in the NFL's efforts to grow its international footprint while allowing us to directly engage NFL fans in Germany."
There will be five NFL regular-season games played internationally in 2022, with three games played in London, one in Mexico and one in Germany.
The Arizona Cardinals will return to play in Mexico City, where they hosted the NFL's first regular-season game outside the United States in 2005.
The Green Bay Packers will make their first international trip, becoming the 32nd NFL team to play in London since 2007. The New Orleans Saints will play in the U.K. for the third time, having won on two previous occasions. The Jacksonville Jaguars previously announced that they will play a home game at Wembley Stadium in 2022.
"We are very excited to be staging five games outside the United States in 2022, and thank the clubs for their continued commitment to growing the sport internationally," Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's executive vice president for club business and league events, said in a statement. "Our fans in Germany, Mexico and the UK can look forward to seeing some of the most iconic names and biggest stars in the League and enjoying an incredible series of events."
Next season's International Series will mark the first time that the NFL has returned to Germany since it hosted five preseason games from 1990 to 1994.
The country also had a number of host cities for teams in the NFL's overseas competitions (the World League of American Football, NFL Europe and NFL Europa) from 1991 to 2007, though Munich was not one of them.
Last season, the NFL resumed its annual international series after coronavirus-related travel restrictions caused the 2020 series to be canceled. Two games were held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London in October: the Atlanta Falcons' win over the New York Jets, and the Jaguars' victory over the Miami Dolphins a week later. The latter was the NFL's 30th game held in London since the series began in 2007.
NFL owners approved a resolution last year to guarantee four international games per season starting in 2022, in the United Kingdom, Mexico and Germany. The resolution also stated that each NFL team would be mandated to play overseas at least once every eight years.
Source: www.espn.com - NFL