Kansas City and New England to play as hosts in the next two weeks in Frankfurt, where they seek to win over German fans
The New England Patriots have the history. The Kansas City Chiefs have the power.
New England will travel with their six Super Bowl trophies. A yacht? Kansas City has it, not to mention their star quarterback and tight end.
They are all heading to Frankfurt to be part of two weeks of American football in Germany, but beyond the games, they want to win over the German fans.
"Most Germans don't have a team," said Alexander Steinforth, the general manager of the NFL in Germany.
There are millions of potential followers, which means a gold mine for the teams and the league that have already reached their peak locally. The league claims there are 18 million casual fans -- roughly one out of every five residents -- and 3.6 million avid ones.
"We are reaching a state of maturity where you see that fans are actively looking for a team to follow," said Steinforth. "That's why the market is exciting for the franchises."
The Chiefs travel first, they will face the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. One week later, the Patriots will play against the Indianapolis Colts at Deutsche Bank Park.
The Chiefs and Patriots have commercial rights in Germany along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, and Atlanta Falcons, according to the global market program. This means they can sign commercial agreements, hold events, and sell merchandise.
For Kansas City, life is good. They are the defending Super Bowl champions, quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the current league MVP, Travis Kelce is having another great season, oh, and of course, the tight end seems to be in a relationship with pop star Taylor Swift, adding to the current buzz.
Interest in Germany for New England increased after they recruited German offensive lineman Sebastian Vollmer in 2009 and started pushing content in the country. The titles kept coming, coinciding with the fact that their games were broadcast for free on ProSieben. The league has now moved to RLT.
"I would say we are the number one team, or have been for many years, but obviously we are going against the Chiefs, who are very good right now and their popularity is increasing," said Joe Dorant, senior director of business development for the team in the region.
Compete with Taylor Swift?
"I don't think we can," Dorant admitted. "The only thing we can do is do it the Patriot way. We have been successful for so many years... for 20 years. No other team can say that."